My mum signed up to Dignitas like Esther Rantzen – but I couldn’t go with her… it’s the most awful thing ever

THE son of a woman who ended her life at the Dignitas assisted dying clinic says the ordeal was the “most awful thing ever”.

Ex-cop James said his mum chose Dignitas after battling vasculitis, which acts like a degenerative cancer.

But UK law forced him to “wave goodbye” to his mum at her front door as she left for Switzerland on her own.

He told LBC’s Nick Ferrari: “We wanted to be with mum at the end of her life and celebrate the end of her life but we had to do it all in secrecy because of the fear of prosecution.”

James’s mother, an NHS nurse of 40-years, signed up to the clinic after “really, really suffering” with her illness.

Facing the indignity of losing control of her bowels, James said his mother “wanted the choice of compassion” at the end of her life.

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So she paid £12,000 to undergo an assisted suicide at Dignitas, which has helped nearly 350 Brits end their lives since 1998.

Once signed up his mum and family went through a massive vetting process of interviews and psychological analysis.

But those who go with their loved one and are present during the process face the risk of prosecution.

Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, according to the Campaign for Dignity in Dying, which James works for.

He added: “I would’ve risked my career… she decided with me before that I must not risk my career for my young family.”

As a result the ordeal had been the “most awful thing” James’s family had been through.

He revealed his story as it emerged TV presenter Esther Rantzen had signed up to the Swiss clinic.

The 83-year-old founder of ChildLine will travel to Dignitas if her latest treatment for stage four lung cancer does’t work.

Dame Esther told Radio 4’s The Today Podcast her decision was in part driven by her wish that her family’s “last memories of me” are not “painful”.

She added: “Because if you watch someone you love having a bad death, that memory obliterates all the happy times.”

Dame Esther has called for a free vote on the issue, as her family could be prosecuted if they were to travel with her to a Dignitas clinic.

By the end of 2020, Dignitas had assisted 3,248 people with suicide at home within Switzerland and at Dignitas’ accommodation near Zürich.