'Assisted dying could have helped Debbie Purdy'

A woman from North Yorkshire who supported a campaigner who spent years trying to get assisted dying legalised has said it is "upsetting" it has happened after she died.

On Friday, MPs passed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which was put forward by Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater.

After hours of debate, MPs voted 330 to 275 in favour of the proposed change, which will allow terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to seek help ending their own life.

Ruth Penrose said it could prevent others going through what Debbie Purdy, from Bradford, did with her primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) before she died in 2014.

Ms Penrose, who also has MS, said: “It is still upsetting as Debbie worked so hard to try and get this bill passed, she had a normal lifestyle, she got married, she was happy, but suddenly she was struck by MS.

“Unfortunately, her MS was more aggressive than what mine is and she didn’t have the quality of life she wanted and had to take it into her own hands, which was a long, long process for her and it is upsetting she had to go through all that.”

Ms Purdy died in 2014 at the age of 51 after campaigning for the right-to-die and spent her last year in the city's Marie Curie Hospice, sometimes refusing food before her death.

In 2009, she also won a landmark ruling to clarify the law on assisted suicide and find out if her husband would get prosecuted if he helped her to end her life.

Ms Penrose added that people should have the option to choose when to die rather than just rely on palliative care.

She told the BBC: “Hearing the bill had passed was like a sigh of relief and just felt amazing really, which sounds like a daft thing to say but it means people now have the choice.

“For me, it’s all about each individual and their choice, and I feel so relieved as I don’t know what the future holds for me.”

However, Tony Collins, the chief executive of Herriot Hospice Homecare, added palliative care should still be “just as available as assisted dying” could soon become.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: “Hospices are in trouble, as there is a huge funding gap going on, so what is really important is that real choice is available to everybody.

“It is important that all this discussion is done alongside making sure end of life and palliative care is available for everybody and that good end of life care is as available as assisted dying is.”

The bill will now face months of scrutiny and votes in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which will mean that any change in the law would not be agreed until next year at the earliest.

Ms Leadbeater said it could then be a further two years from then for an assisted dying service to be in place.

Out of the seven MPs representing constituencies in North Yorkshire, five of them voted in favour of the bill, while two voted against.

Those who voted for included Tom Gordon, who represents Harrogate and Knaresborough, Kevin Hollinrake, the MP for Thirsk and Malton, Alison Hume for Scarborough and Whitby, Keir Mather who represents Selby, and also Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister and MP for Richmond and Northallerton.

Meanwhile, Alec Shelbrooke, who represents Wetherby and Easingwold, and also Julian Smith, the MP for Skipton and Ripon, both voted against the bill.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.