Physically healthy UK mom undergoes assisted suicide in Switzerland

A woman from the UK made headlines after she publicly announced her plans to head to Switzerland to end her life via assisted suicide. Notably, this physically healthy woman made the choice not because she was terminally ill, but because she was grieving her only son's untimely death.

Key Takeaways:

• Wendy Duffy, a 56-year-old physically healthy woman, traveled to Switzerland to die on April 24.

• Duffy said her grief surrounding her son's untimely death made her unwilling to continue living.

• She was able to legally kill herself in Switzerland despite a previous suicide attempt, and despite clear indications that she was mentally unwell.

The Details:

Wendy Duffy, 56, announced her plans to travel to Switzerland where she was able to undergo assisted suicide on April 24 at Pegasos, an organization that specializes in helping people kill themselves.

Ruedi Habegger, the founder of Pegasos, confirmed that Duffy died last Friday.

“I can confirm that Wendy Duffy, at her own request, was assisted to die on April 24 and that the procedure was completed without incident and in full compliance with her wishes,” said Habegger.

“I can also confirm that neither we nor any of the professional staff assessing her mental capacity had any doubt as to her intention, understanding, and independence of both thought and action,” he added. “In historical terms at English law, hers was a case of ‘sane suicide.’”

Duffy reportedly paid the organization $13,500 for her death. Pegasos is known for allowing foreigners to participate in what has been called “death tourism,” where they pay large amounts of money to take their own lives.

The Backstory:

Four years ago, Duffy's 23-year-old son, Marcus, died unexpectedly after a choking incident. Nine months after his death, Duffy had a failed suicide attempt which left her on a ventilator for two weeks. Duffy said that though she tried therapy, she never overcame her desire to die. She believed that killing herself was the only way for her "spirit to be free," and planned to wear one of her son's shirts as she passed, because "it still smells like him."

Duffy told news outlets that her plan to travel to Switzerland, where she could kill herself legally, was only to spare someone from finding her body if she committed suicide at home.

“It will be hard for everyone. But I want to die. I’ll have a smile on my face when I do, so please be happy for me. My life; my choice,” she said.

Zoom In:

Duffy clearly indicated she had trouble coping after her son's death. Of that time, she said:

That's when I died too, inside. I'm not the same person now as I was. I used to feel things. I'd go to funerals after Marcus died, and I'd feel nothing. It's why I had to give up work. You can't be a carer if you don't care, and I'm sorry, but I don't. I don't care about anything any more. I exist. I don't live.

Statements such as this, as well as her failed suicide attempt, indicate that she needed mental help, not an easy way to kill herself.

She traveled to Switzerland because of the country's extremely lax rules surrounding assisted suicide and euthanasia. Notably, Duffy's death came on the same day that an assisted suicide bill failed to pass in the U.K.