Ex-headteacher, 65, with motor neurone disease calls for law change to let him end life in UK as he prepares to head to Swiss clinic
AN ex-headteacher with motor neurone disease wants the law to change to allow him end his life in the UK.
The 65-year-old Scot has made the call for change before he travels to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, Switzerland.
Richard Selley is set to end his life in eight weeks' time abroad, as he is unable to do so at his home in Glenalmond, Perthshire.
He has dubbed the laws - which could see his wife prosecuted if she assisted him - as "cruel, outdated and discriminatory".
Richard has faced hurdles as he has tried to organise his final trip to Dignitas, with his GP being warned against sharing medical records and his wife unable to help.
He told : "I am trapped in a body that refuses to respond to messages from my brain, a body that has been drained of energy.
'The only thing I can do for myself is type, very slowly, with one finger. In March I decided I did not wish to live in that state so I became a member of Dignitas.
"Elaine said she did not want to lose me but gave me her full support. Telling my daughters was painful but they also gave me their backing."
Formally the head of Loretto junior school in East Lothian, he was diagnosed with the disease four years ago.
He can no longer speak and instead communicates using an iPad. He is awaiting the confirmation form Dignitas, but plans to end his life in September.
What is motor neurone disease?
Motor neurone disease is a rare condition.
About two in every 100,000 Brits develop it each year.
It affects specialist nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing the function of motor neurons to break down.
When this neurodegeneration occurs, everyday activities become increasingly difficult or completely impossible.
Over time, the condition progressively worsens as the muscle weakens and can visibly waste.
The majority of those diagnosed with the disease are given a three-year life expectancy starting from when they first notice the symptoms.
In an open letter to Holyrood, which has twice voted against assisted suicide bills, Mr Selley wrote: "If assisted deaths were available in Scotland, it would have eased many worries and my remaining time would have been dedicated to my wife, family and friends rather than complex admin.
"The present laws (and lack of laws) around assisted dying in Scotland are cruel, outdated and discriminatory.
"I am urging MSPs to do what they can to introduce safe, compassionate legislation that would let me, and other terminally ill patients, die at home."
Elaine said: "It is the toughest thing I have had to do. You never, for one minute, think you will be talking publicly to the nation about your husband dying.
"There needs to be a change in the law that allows people like Richard to die in peace at home, surrounded by family and loved ones.
"It's awful to have to go abroad and he's going early I think. If the law was different in Scotland, he probably would still be with us another few months."
Dignitas is a non-profit society which provides assisted or accompanied suicide to its members, provided their wishes are signed off by independent doctors.
The Swiss society helps members with severe physical or mental illnesses, as well as the terminally ill, to end their own lives.
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Founded in 1998, over 2,100 people have died with Dignitas' help, in assisted suicides at home or at the society's house near Zürich.
Members who want an assisted death have to prove that they are of sound judgement, and have to be able to bring about their deaths themselves.
Dignitas reportedly charges between €4,000 (£3,600) and €7,000 (£6,400) for assisted suicide.
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