Dame Esther Rantzen ’s daughter Rebecca Wilcox has suggested she is considering breaking the law to aid her mum in an assisted death if the need arises. Grandmother of five Esther is spearheading a UK campaign to legalise assisted suicide after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in January last year. Rebecca has previously spoken about her fears should she choose to go with her to Switzerland where Dignitas could help facilitate an assisted death.
Writing in Saga magazine, she said: “If she goes – at the moment it would be her only option for an assisted death – she will have to go alone. It is against the law to accompany her. I would face prosecution for manslaughter and could receive up to 14 years in prison.
“Even if it doesn’t go to trial, many people face a two-year investigation. I have a young family with two children, a busy home and a complex job. I shouldn’t have to risk going to prison just to keep mum company, but I’m not sure I could let her go alone.
Rebecca says she faces an impossible decision about whether to risk prosecution ( Image: Mirrorpix) “It’s an impossible decision to have to make: either risk possible prosecution at the worst time of my life, when I have just lost my adored mum, or do the unthinkable and let her die alone in a foreign country with no one she knows or loves to hold her hand.” TV presenter Rebecca also writes about her mother: “The thought of her actually dying is abominable, but the thought of her .
