A British woman who travelled to Switzerland to die has condemned the "cowardice of politicians" that forced her to spend her last hours away from home.
Former TV producer Geraldine McClelland (61), who was diagnosed with both lung and liver cancer, said she was relieved she would not be forced to suffer any longer, adding that she had chosen to die on her own terms with her family at her side.
In a letter published just hours after her death at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich yesterday, Ms McClelland said she was not sad, but "angry that because of the cowardice of our politicians I can’t die in the country I was born in, in my own home".
"I would like to be able to choose to take medication to end my life if my suffering becomes unbearable for me, at home, with my family and friends around me," she wrote.
"But the law in this country prevents me from doing so."
Ms McClelland said her dying wish was for people to talk about her death.
She urged readers of the letter not to feel sad for her, but to "turn it into a fight to change the law so that other people don’t have to travel abroad to die".
"I believe that as part of my end-of-life care, which has otherwise been good, I should have been allowed to choose not to endure the last weeks of my life, and I believe you should have that choice when you are dying too," she wrote.
"I don’t believe that my brother and sister should have to break the law so that they can be with me when I die. Your loved ones should not be in that position either.
“My decision is made, I choose to die on my own terms and with my family around me in Zurich, and it’s too late to change the law for me, but please, if you care about this issue at all, please make your voice heard.
“I appreciate that it is a difficult subject, but when dying cannot be avoided, let us be compassionate enough and tolerant enough to respect choice.”
Ms McClelland, of White City, west London, retired 10 years ago after working for the BBC, producing programmes including Watchdog, Food and Drink, Health Check and Crimewatch.
Her letter was released, in accordance with her wishes, by the campaign group Dignity in Dying, which wants a change to the law.
At the moment, anyone acting with compassion to help end the life of someone who has decided they cannot go on is unlikely to face criminal charges.
The director of public prosecutions in England and Wales issued new guidelines over assisted suicide in February last year after right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy, who has multiple sclerosis, took her case to the highest court in the country after the High Court and Court of Appeal held that it was for Parliament, not the courts, to change the law.
Keir Starmer QC said the motives of those assisting suicide would be at the centre of the decision over whether they should be prosecuted.
But assisted suicide remains a criminal offence in England and Wales, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, and individual decisions on prosecution will be made on the circumstances in each case.
In September it emerged that of more than 40 cases considered by prosecutors since the guidelines were brought in, no-one has been prosecuted.
Supporters of a change in the law say the guidelines are simply not enough, but critics warn that prosecutors risk creating “legalisation by stealth”, which could “encourage more abuse and place vulnerable sick, disabled and elderly people at much greater risk”.
Sheilagh Matheson, who was friends with Ms McClelland for more than 40 years, said: “Gerry decided very early in life that, given any choice in the matter, we should be able to control the way and circumstances in which we die, just as we take major decisions about our life.
“It was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was something she had thought about for many, many years.”
Ms Matheson of Northumberland, said: “She didn’t want to endure the physical degradation that she knew she would suffer.
“All the palliative care she was receiving made her feel very doped-up, and she didn’t feel she had control over her mental faculties. She wanted to get out while she was as near to the top as possible, rather than just crumble in a hospital bed or hospice.”
Paying tribute to her friend, she added: "In many ways she epitomised how women’s lives have changed over the years.
"She was single, very independent, very determined - she called a spade a spade. But she loved looking good, was completely open and honest. She was great fun, and stood up for what she believed in.”
PA