Heartbreaking assisted dying plea of terminally ill former nurse

A terminally ill former nurse used her last words to issue a passionate plea on assisted dying - saying simply: 'I need to be able to die'.

Elaine Hudson had been ravaged by brutal motor neurone disease and was no longer able to speak when she realised her message, pointing to letters on a keyboard as her only way to communicate.

On the same day, the 68-year-old started to refuse food and drink - the only option she felt was left for people who want to die in the UK, which her heartbroken family branded 'barbaric'.

Tomorrow, MPs will vote on allowing assisted dying for the first time in almost a decade. 

Under the Bill, terminally-ill adults with less than six months to live and a wish to die would be eligible for an assisted death if signed off by two doctors and a High Court judge.

Writing to The Times, she said: 'I need to be able to die having lived with this for nearly three years not able to do anything … this is not living on any level. 

'Mentally I have been strong but now I have to be told by government to put up with negative living. 

'I would like to be seen for 24 hours as an example of why I want to die, it is not pretty but if I have to live it then it should be an example to government of why I want to go.' 

Ms Hudson was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in July last year and has since moved into a hospice.

The disease sees the nerves controlling your muscles gradually stop working. She died on November 25.

She bravely insisted pictures were taken of her on her death bed, capturing her final days.

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Her daughter, Natalie Cheshire, said that she was screaming out in pain on the morning she stopped eating and drinking.

The 43-year-old branded her mother's death 'barbaric', saying she could have passed away months ago had assisted dying been an option.

She said: 'I don’t even know if these words are doing her justice. But she was just special and brave and strong and an absolute rock for everybody. It will be a massive hole in our family when she finally dies.' 

Her son, Bruce Thew, said she was in 'excruciating pain', and her jaw had locked leaving her 'choking on saliva' for her final days.

He said her eventual death was 'a brutal way to die' - adding that politicians have been 'getting this one tragically wrong' as they focus on people who may be coerced, rather than the people who need the bill.

A series of recent polls have put public support for legalising assisted dying at between 60 per cent and 73 per cent in favour. 

The vote on the Assisted Dying Bill will not be whipped by the main political parties, meaning MPs are free to vote with their conscience rather than facing pressure to follow a certain party line.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has branded the policy a 'slippery slope towards death on demand' in a letter to her constituents.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has also been critical, but Keir Starmer has hinted he will back the plan - which gained momentum after a campaign by terminally ill TV star Esther Rantzen.

As politicians wrestle with their positions, polls have suggested that the public supports the principle of assisted dying - although there are doubts about how it would be implemented in practice.

Research by More in Common has found nearly two thirds favour the idea, with just 13 per cent opposed and 22 per cent unsure.

The poll found the majority of Brits regard strict safeguards as 'essential' to an assisted dying law.

However, 71 per cent said it was possible to create policy with the right protections, against 29 per cent who thought it was not.

The bill was seen as happening at about the right pace by 51 per cent, while a further 13 per cent said it was too slow. Nearly a fifth said it was happening too quickly.