I helped my MND-stricken husband journey to Dignitas

A lady who helped her husband journey to Dignitas claimed the UK’s legal guidelines left them feeling like they had been ‘like thieves’ escaping by evening.

Ilana Richardson, 78, booked flights to Switzerland for her husband Crispin Ellison, 69, following a chronic battle with motor neurone illness.

Mrs Richardson, from Hove, stated her husband had resolved to ‘maintain his dignity in death’ however was reliant on her for help planning the journey.

She risked nervous breakdown from the specter of prosecution for aiding in Mr Ellison’s dying.

Mr Ellison, who labored in charity fundraising, was identified with MND in 2015.

He travelled to Switzerland in 2019, though would have delay his choice to spend extra time together with his household if UK legal guidelines allowed assisted dying.

Ilana Richardson, 78, booked flights to Switzerland for her husband Crispin Ellison, 69, following a chronic battle with motor neurone illness

Mrs Richardson, from Hove, stated her husband had resolved to ‘maintain his dignity in death’ however was reliant on her for help planning the journey

She stated she risked a nervous breakdown from the specter of prosecution for aiding in Mr Ellison’s dying

Mrs Richardson stated: ‘Crispin was a very dignified man and wanted to maintain his dignity in death.

‘We knew that the police could possibly start an investigation and stop the journey, so very few people knew about our plans.

‘I was very stressed and got anxiety attacks – I couldn’t eat and thought I used to be going to have a nervous breakdown.

‘It was what Crispin wanted but he could not do it. It gave me a far larger responsibility than I would have liked.’

Mrs Richardson stated they had been able the place they might afford to journey to Switzerland however stated the legislation meant those that couldn’t afford to journey had been denied a alternative.

She added: ‘If Crispin could have died in the UK he would have waited until the last moment.

‘Everything is expensive in this journey, but if it were here it would be so different.

‘We felt like thieves running away in the night, the law does not give people the freedom to do what they want with their lives and death.

‘It makes me angry that we had to go through what we did and there are so many people who could not afford it or are alone.

‘It should be a matter of getting in touch with doctors here and being compassionate – people do it because they are suffering not because they want to die.’