Wendy Duffy, a 56-year-old former care worker from the West Midlands, has died at the Pegasos clinic in Basel, Switzerland, four years after the death of her only child, Marcus, aged 23. The physically healthy woman struggled to cope with her son's death, which occurred after he choked on a sandwich, leading to oxygen starvation in his brain.
Duffy had previously attempted to take her own life. She paid £10,000 to Pegasos, a nonprofit organisation founded by right-to-die activist Ruedi Habegger in 2019. Her siblings were aware of her application to the clinic. She told the Daily Mail: 'My life, my choice. I wish this was available in the UK, then I wouldn’t have to go to Switzerland at all.'
Ruedi Habegger confirmed Duffy's death on 24 April, describing it as a 'sane suicide'. He stated: 'I can confirm that Wendy Duffy, at her own request, was assisted to die on 24 April and that the procedure was completed without incident and in full compliance with her wishes. In historical terms, at English law, hers was a case of “sane suicide”.'
The case comes as assisted dying legislation in England and Wales failed to pass. The terminally ill adults (end of life) bill, which had been progressing through parliament for 18 months, did not reach a vote in the House of Lords. The bill proposed allowing adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval from two doctors and an expert panel. Duffy's case would not have met these conditions.
More than 1,200 amendments to the bill were suggested in the Lords, with over 800 tabled by seven peers. Opponents had branded the legislation 'hopelessly flawed'. In 2024, a 29-year-old Dutch woman, Zoraya ter Beek, was granted assisted dying on grounds of unbearable mental suffering under a law passed in the Netherlands in 2002.
