Hull Woman Advocates for Assisted Dying Legislation Following Father’s Terminal Illness

A Hull resident is advocating for parliamentary support of the assisted dying bill, motivated by her experience of her father’s death from terminal cancer. Dennis Blake, father of Jess Clark, received a diagnosis of lung and prostate cancer in October 2023. The illness subsequently metastasized throughout his body, leading to his death in August. Ms. Clark stated that her father had a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order because “he didn’t want to be kept alive,” and she is convinced he would have opted for an assisted dying choice to avoid suffering during his last days. Legislation currently under consideration in England and Wales aims to prevent the “worst-case scenario of a horrific death”; however, advocacy groups have voiced worries that individuals might feel compelled to end their lives. Mrs. Clark, 48, recounted, “It took six days for my dad to die.” She added, “It was such a horrible thing to see.” She further expressed, “I just don’t want to die in pain, like my dad did.” Despite Mr. Blake “wasn’t fit and well enough to have chemotherapy,” he underwent several treatments, such as hormone therapy to reduce the prostate cancer and immunotherapy. He consumed as many as 30 medications daily to alleviate his pain and symptoms, which resulted in side effects like hallucinations. Mrs. Clark stated, “He was in pain all the time.” She elaborated, “When he wasn’t on the medication, he was there, he was my dad. He was in the room, he was having conversations. “When he was on the medication, he was away with it. He was sedated, he was in a dreamland, he was hallucinating. He would talk and it wouldn’t make any sense.” She concluded, “So it was the choice of being like that or being fast asleep.” She also remarked, “I know at that point he really felt like he’d lost his dignity.” Mr. Blake spent his last days in a hospice, having ceased eating and drinking by that stage. Mrs. Clark recounted, “My dad was dying. He was changing visibly in front of our eyes.” She continued, “The cancer was affecting him so much that it made the body shut down. But what actually shut him down in the end was the starvation process, which was just horrible to see.” She added, “As a family we sat around his bed. We spent all the time there with him and were with him when he died. It was a traumatic time, but in a lot of ways I think we’re all really grateful that we were there with him.” After her father’s passing, her method for coping with grief became “to talk about assisted dying.” She encouraged all her acquaintances and relatives to reach out to their Members of Parliament “to push this through and to get them talking about it.” She stated, “Seeing him go through that, it made me think I don’t want to go through that pain and I don’t want my family to have to sit by me while I go through that either.” The proposed law mandates that two independent medical practitioners and a High Court judge must ascertain if an individual meets the conditions for ending their life. Members of Parliament are scheduled to discuss and cast votes on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on November 29. The BBC has been reaching out to MPs and reviewing their public declarations regarding their voting intentions. A significant number of them are still undecided or are seeking input from their constituents while deliberating their choice. Nevertheless, Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, expressed concern that individuals might feel self-imposed pressure to end their lives to avoid becoming “a burden.” Dr. Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing, an organization opposing the bill, stated: “The safest law is the one we currently have.” He added, “This bill is being rushed with indecent haste and ignores the deep-seated problems in the UK’s broken and patchy palliative care system.” Mrs. Clark emphasized the importance for individuals to “have the right to make a choice” and proposed a system similar to a donor card, where people could document their preferred option for themselves prior to any diagnosis or illness. She concluded, “It’s too late for my dad now but, when my time comes, I want to know that I’m going to have a choice.” The BBC encourages audiences to listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, view the latest episode of Look North, or submit potential stories for coverage. Copyright for this content is held by BBC, 2024. All rights are reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding its approach to external linking is available.