Three years after terminally ill cancer patient David Minns launched the Express campaign to legalise assisted dying, his son Matt says it is “amazing” that the country is now so close to changing the law. In a heartbreaking 2022 interview, David described how dying quickly of a heart attack was a “best case scenario” as blood cancer took its toll.
His daughter Katie had died horrifically the previous year aged just 46 from another cancer, sarcoma, and the former hairdresser wanted to spare his loved ones the pain of witnessing another bad death. Tragically, David died one year later, “frightened, struggling to breathe and in agony”. Matt said that if this bill passes, it will mean that “all of these campaigners haven’t suffered for nothing”.
He added: “It will just be amazing to think that so many people’s deaths won’t have to carry the fear of such a painful end that both my dad and sister suffered.”
Matt, 45, said it was sad that his dad did not live long enough to benefit from a change in the law but, like Dame Esther Rantzen, David had never expected to.
“Dad is one example of the very many campaigners who have worked so hard to get it to this point, some knowing that they wouldn’t benefit from it themselves but they could help other people,” he said.
“Their experience of knowing what dying without that protection is like, is so powerful.”
Matt and his family continued to support the Express campaign and in February 2024, we arranged for him to meet with then prime minister Rishi Sunak.
The former Tory leader said he was “very sympathetic” to the family’s plight and promised he would help to change the law if MPs willed it.
Matt, of south east London, paid tribute to “all the sacrifices that people have made and the effort these campaigners have put in, and the help of the Express to get it so close”.
He added: “There’s such a lot of pain and suffering that has gone into this, and for it to be so close is very moving.
“It is a surprise that it has come so fast. I think that’s down to the dedication and effort that so many campaigners have put into this.”
Sharing a final message for MPs ahead of Friday’s vote, he said: “Listen to the public. Public opinion is overwhelming on this. How many people haven’t seen a loved one suffer?
“How many people haven’t been through the process of sitting next to somebody’s bed while they die in pain, or while talking to them about what their death might be like?
“How many people haven’t seen someone be afraid when given a terminal diagnosis, when they’re not sure what that’s going to be like? That’s why public opinion is so powerfully in favour of this.
“I’m glad there are MPs who haven’t had to go through this and I hope they don’t. But I really hope that those who haven’t had that perspective listen to their constituents on this issue, because it’s a horrible thing to have to see a family member die in pain when they don’t need to.”