A terminally ill father who spent his final years campaigning for the right to a dignified death has died in pain, after being unable to afford a trip to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.
Tim Wardle, an 86-year-old retired architect from Newton Abbot, Devon, passed away on 22 May this year following a decade-long battle with cancer. His son, Charlie, has revealed his father's final day was marked by suffering, a fate Tim had desperately sought to avoid.
A Campaigner Denied His Own Choice
Tim Wardle was a vocal supporter of the Assisted Dying Bill, advocating for the legal right for terminally ill people to choose when and how they die. He had seen cancer devastate his family, losing his grandfather, mother, and both sisters to the disease.
His conviction was hardened after witnessing the painful death of a sister in Canada before Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) was legalised there. "She was a lovely woman but she was in obvious pain," Tim had said. "She was a very private person and hated the loss of dignity."
While he explored travelling to Dignitas, Tim believed no one should be forced to leave their home or spend thousands of pounds for a peaceful death. "I wish to die at a time and place of my choosing, before losing control of my speech and bodily functions, and with my loved ones around me," he had stated.
A Sudden and Painful End
According to his son Charlie, 25, Tim's condition deteriorated rapidly at the end. "He took a very sudden turn and in the day prior to his death he was in pain," Charlie told The Mirror. Tim was at home until the day before he died, when he was taken to Torbay Hospital, where he passed away in the early hours.
"I know from my mum, about the pain that he was in the day prior to his passing," Charlie said. "I think it's important that other people have the option not to let it get that far."
Charlie, a support worker from Blaenavon, South Wales, is now urging the House of Lords to stop delaying the Assisted Dying Bill. He described the volume of proposed amendments as "transparently time-wasting" and an insult to campaigners.
Legacy of a Compassionate Fight
Campaign group My Death, My Decision, where Tim was an unwavering supporter, paid tribute to his courage. Director Graham Winyard said: "Tim was a deeply principled and compassionate man who gave so much to the assisted dying movement, even while facing his own terminal diagnosis."
Charlie Wardle pledged to continue his father's fight. "As my dad said, he watched his sister die in Canada and there a law change came too late for her, and the Assisted Dying Bill came too late for my dad," he said. "But it's not too late for other people to have that choice and to exercise dignity in dying."
He added: "The quicker we can see this passed, the less people are going to have to go through this agonising death. Every delay is another potential victim of a painful death."
