“The thought of her dying in pain is unbearable”: Esther Rantzen’s daughter on why she supports her decision on assisted dying

The daughter of Dame Esther Rantzen has spoken about her mother’s terminal illness and why she supports assisted dying, in an interview with our Saga Magazine. Rebecca Wilcox, daughter of the terminally ill TV presenter, tells us why she backs her mother’s decision to sign up to Swiss assisted-dying clinic Dignitas.

“Her health is not great and her illness – stage four lung cancer – has no cure; the prognosis may lead to a painful death that might not be eased with palliative care and opioid painkillers,” she says.

“I’ve always known – particularly since my father, the award-winning broadcaster Desmond Wilcox, signed his DNR – that staying alive under any circumstances was not the choice we wanted to make.”

But she only found out, like the rest of us, when the 83-year-old told the Today Podcast that she had signed up for the clinic.  

Wilcox revealed that her mother’s announcement was unexpected… “not only for the public, but also for me. I hadn’t realised she’d registered with them, not that I was surprised.”

But she says she supports her mother’s decision: “The thought of her actually dying is abominable, but the thought of her dying in pain is unthinkable.”

However, this leaves her with an impossible choice: if her mother decides to travel to the clinic to end her life, Wilcox could be jailed for accompanying her.

“If she goes there – at the moment it would be her only option for an assisted death – she will have to go alone,” Wilcox explains. “It is against the law to accompany her. If I did, I’d face prosecution for manslaughter and could receive up to 14 years in prison.

“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.

“I don’t understand the lack of action by our government, which seems unable to commit on the subject. It’s inhumane.”