Gaynor Griffiths, 63, who campaigned for assisted dying in the UK, urged her family to continue the fight in her final wish. She flew to the Pegasos clinic in Switzerland in April with her husband Gary, 64, and their children Ami and Alex, after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND). Before she died, with her loved ones whispering how much they loved her, she told them: "Please carry on this fight for me. Try and get them to change their minds. We can try and make a difference."
Family speaks out five months on
Five months after her death, and with the second reading of the Terminally Ill (End of Life) Bill due at Westminster, Gaynor's family spoke publicly to the Mirror for the first time. Gaynor supported the bill, which would allow adults over 18 with a terminal illness and less than six months to live to choose to end their own lives, provided they hold mental capacity.
Last year, MPs voted in favour of a similar bill, but it was not passed by the House of Lords after more than 1,000 amendments delayed progress until it ran out of time on April 24. Just days before the bill was finally blocked, Gaynor travelled to Switzerland to end her life.
Letter to her family
Gaynor left a letter for her family to open after her death. In it, she said "the decision to end my life was mine alone" to protect her family from any legal problems in the UK. She wrote: "Dad and I have been married for 42 years, we love each other very much and know each other extremely well. We have had a happy and fortunate life together. We've been blessed to have you two wonderful kids… and now Rory."
She described MND as "torture" and wrote: "I'm so lucky to have had dad to look after me, he truly is a wonderful caring superstar." She added: "I'm devastated that dad and I won't be able to fulfill our retirement together, all those wonderful trips, Spain and spending time with family and friends. I'm so incredibly sad but I can't live like this. I'm dying, I want to die under my terms before I become a mind living in a dead body…I believe just existing is not living."
Final goodbye
Before leaving for Gatwick Airport, Gaynor said goodbye to her three-year-old grandson Rory, telling him: "I love you to the moon and back." Her daughter Ami said: "The final goodbye was awful. She could have had more days with him if she hadn't needed to go abroad. This country's laws stopped her from having a good death in an environment she loved."
In October 2025, Gaynor was diagnosed with MND after experiencing 'foot drop' and weakness in her leg. Her husband Gary said: "We had spoken about assisted dying ever since her dad suffered towards the end of his life. She said she wouldn't want to go through that. I just kept hoping it wouldn't go as quickly as it did."
By December, she was living in a wheelchair and her arms had started to weaken. Gaynor told Gary: "I'm not going to be able to feed myself soon." Gary added: "She was struggling to breathe as well. That's when she decided that she had no life any more."
Death in Switzerland
Gaynor, a retired project manager, had been in hospital with pneumonia before her death. Her daughter Ami said: "She was terrified. She said she'd wished she hadn't made it through the night. Every day we were in tears."
At the clinic in Switzerland, paperwork was filled out days before her assisted death, scheduled for 10am on April 18. Gary described the setting: "They took us up in a lift where there's a big open planned apartment with big picture windows looking out over the hills and the Swiss mountains, all very serene." Gaynor turned down more time together, saying: "No, let's just get this over with." She died at 11.11am.
Her son Alex, an emergency medical technician in the NHS, described her last moments as 'peaceful', but said: "Travelling to Switzerland with my mum was the hardest thing I have ever done." He added: "That is the reality of MND. And that is why my mum made the decision she did."
Paul Blomfield, Chair of Dignity in Dying and former Labour MP, said: "Gaynor Griffiths' experience highlights the issues MPs face on 11th September. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, she knew exactly what she wanted - to die on her own terms at home, surrounded by the people she loved. But the current law denied her that choice." He added: "On 11th September, they can send a clear message back to the Lords on behalf of families like Gaynor's."
