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Imagine seeing off a loved one at the airport for a holiday, only to find out they’ve secretly ended their life at a Swiss clinic for assisted dying.
After Judith Hamilton, 82, travelled to Basel to confront Pegasos owner Ruedi Habegger over the secret death of her 47-year-old son Alastair – who had no diagnosed illness – the non-profit promised to call families to let them know in advance in future.
But it seems another British family has learnt of their loved one’s death, not from Pegasos itself, but through piecing together their relative’s last moments.
‘She was one of the healthiest people we know’, Delia told ITV News while packing up her sister Anne’s belongings in Wales. She had no known terminal illness.
The family thought Anne, 51, had gone to Switzerland on holiday in January, until they started receiving goodbye letters posted from there.
‘If you’re reading this, I am no longer here’, Anne wrote to Delia, who believes the depression Anne suffered after the death of her only son was a factor in her decision.
‘I have thought about this long and hard and need to find [my son] and ask him some questions.
‘There is nothing you could have done, because this was my decision to go to Switzerland and be in peace… I can’t keep going and get older and older without my son.’
It took several days of emails, after tracking Anne back to Pegasos, for the family to get confirmation that Anne had in fact visited that particular clinic and gone through with her plans.
‘Anne has chosen to die’, Pegasos informed them.
Before refusing to reply any further to Delia, who insisted ‘this was NOT the right decision for her’, Pegasos said: ‘Anne no longer wanted to live, she felt alone and superfluous. She also did not want to grow old. This is a free decision of a free person.’
Last year, Pegasos promised to always phone a person’s family before going through with an assisted death, after Judith Hamilton, 82, confronted its owner Ruedi Habegger over the secret death of her son.
Like Anne, chemistry teacher Alastair did not have a diagnosed illness, and his family believed he was going on holiday.
In reality, Pegasos had accepted his online application form claiming a condition was causing him devastating ‘pain, fatigue and comfort’.
His mother only found out after reporting Alastair missing when he failed to return home and stopped answering calls. Bank records revealed an £11,000 payment to Pegasos.
Judith, who waved him off at the airport, said: ‘He put his arms around me, looked me straight in the eyes and he was smiling. And he said “love you, mum, love you lots, always have, always will no matter what”.’
Although Pegasos claims it tried to phone Anne’s brother John before the 51-year-old died, John insists he never heard from them.
John told ITV: ‘Why do they possibly think they have the right to do these things without contacting her family? It just seems evil to me… not to give us a chance to speak to her.’
Judith is ‘extremely angry’ at the apparently broken promise from Pegasos. She said: ‘I cannot believe that despite what we were told, Pegasos have acted in the same heartless, cruel manner as they did when Alistair died. I think they are despicable and should no longer be allowed to operate.’
A Pegasos spokesperson said: ‘According to our protocols we do the best of our abilities that persons we assist have informed their loved ones of their plans to die.
‘Should we have reason to assume that no information has been provided to close family, we will refrain from proceeding without credible proof that they are aware. This hasn’t been the case lately.
‘We understand that the assisted death of a loved person is a distressing time for the family. We are very sorry if Pegasos’ actions or communications have caused further distress to any affected family member at any time and thoroughly consider all concerns.
‘Finally, we’d like to emphasize that – since our foundation in 2019 – all our actions have been in accordance with Swiss law.’
As one of just seven countries where assisted dying is legal, Switzerland has become a major hub for ‘suicide tourism’.
The Isle of Man will become the eighth place to do so – but with far stricter requirements – when a bill passed this week gets Royal Assent.
Only people who have lived on the island for five years or more, have a terminal illness with a prognosis of 12 months or less, and who have a ‘settled intention’ to die will be eligible.
The UK appears on track to legalise assisted dying too, after MPs voted by a majority of 330 voted in favour of a bill that would give people with fewer than six months to live the right to request and be offered help to die.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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