Brian Griffin, 74, from Bryn, is preparing to die and has invited the Manchester Evening News to his home to discuss the assisted dying bill, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which will be debated in the Commons next month.
Brian, who lives with his wife Denise on a quiet cul-de-sac, was a biology teacher for decades, teaching thousands of children across Wigan, including his own son and daughter, before lecturing at the University of Manchester. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2007 and myeloma in 2010.
Brian's condition and the bill
Brian has myeloma, an incurable blood cancer, and has been fitted with a stoma bag and a pacemaker. He takes more than a dozen pills each day for conditions including diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, and vitamins D and B12 deficiencies. A stem cell transplant gave him 10 healthy years, but he needed another in 2021, and second transplants don't last as long. The NHS does not offer more than two stem cell transplants, and Brian knows that when its effects wear off, he may have a matter of months left to live.
The bill, reintroduced by Labour MP Lauren Edwards, will get its second reading on September 11. If it becomes law, it would allow terminally ill adults judged to have six months or less to live to request assistance in ending their lives.
Prime Minister's position
Brian's local MP is Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who said on Friday (August 29) that he will abstain in the next Commons vote so as not to 'unduly influence the debate'. In a letter to members of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Mr Burnham said: "This is an incredibly important and personal debate, not just for members, but for so many people across the country. There is no single right position and I have deep respect for MPs on all sides, and the expertise they bring to this debate."
Brian feels as though he has the Sword of Damocles hanging over him. Without a change in the law, he said his choices could ultimately be to spend a lot of money going to Dignitas, a clinic in Switzerland; suffer; or take his own life. He has pinned his hopes on the bill becoming law.
Support and opposition
The former teacher has supported assisted dying ever since he saw a close relative living with excruciating pain before she died in 'horrific circumstances'. He said: "She was squirming about on a bed, hour after hour, in absolute agony. And we were told 'sorry, there's nothing that we can do'. It was a terrible situation."
Opponents, such as crossbench peer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, are concerned vulnerable people could be coerced into death. The British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing have neutral positions. Brian is convinced there are plenty of safeguarding measures in the proposed legislation, including two independent doctors checking and approving the request and a one-week gap between assessments.
Campaign group Dignity in Dying said fixing palliative care and offering the choice of an assisted death are not mutually exclusive. A spokesperson said: "Brian's story illustrates the real human cost of the undemocratic delay of the assisted dying bill in Parliament. MPs now have the chance to finish what they started and at last tackle the injustice of the status quo."
Back in Bryn, Brian has not allowed his cancer to stop him living a normal life. He no longer holds a Manchester United season ticket, but he still watches his favourite team playing on TV. He is also involved with his local bowling club and likes feeding the birds. For him, assisted dying is a no-brainer, and one he believes future generations may ask why it wasn't implemented much sooner. "They won't let an animal suffer like this, they just put it down and that's it, the animal goes peacefully and, as far as we know, with no pain at all," he says. "It's my life, I should be able to choose what happens to it."
