Terminally ill cancer patient, David Minns, from Mildenhall, urges MPs to change the law around assisted dying

In June 2020, David Minns, from Mildenhall, was told by doctors he had cancer.

Aged 72, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.

He also developed a rare, secondary, and organ damaging condition called amyloidosis, at the same time.

David is now fighting for the right to choose when to end his life.

Last year, joined the campaign to make assisted dying, or euthanasia, legal.

Millions of people worldwide can choose this option.

In the UK, however, anyone convicted of aiding suicide, even at the rational behest of a dying loved one, faces up to 14 years in jail.

As his health deteriorates, it has only served to strengthen his resolve.

Moreover, it is a resolve David first made, while witnessing his daughter Katie’s suffering.

Katie was diagnosed with sarcoma, cancer of the bones, aged 39, which she fought for seven years.

“Kate died an agonising death when she was just 46,” said David, now 75, from Mildenhall.

“Despite excellent NHS and hospice care, her suffering was horrific - so much so that at one stage I even contemplated stepping in to end it. How can it be right that the law put me in that desperate situation?

“Now I am terminally ill myself, I am frightened of dying in pain, having seen what happened to her.

“I am coming towards the end of my life. I have stopped all treatment for my cancer and only take painkillers, but I am fearful that at one point they won’t be able to help.”

It is estimated that up to 650 terminally ill people take their own lives in the UK each year, with up to ten times as many attempts, either alone or with compassionate but illegal assistance from loved ones.

In December last year, however, the Health and Social Care Select Committee announced the first-ever inquiry into assisted dying.

David, a former hairdresser, is a member of campaign group, Dignity in Dying, which has been calling for a review of the law since 2019 under the banner: Compassion is Not A Crime.

Along with the campaigners, he is now urging MPs to listen to the voices of bereaved families and terminally ill patients, as part of the inquiry.

“I want the choice of an assisted death when the pain becomes too much,” said David.

“I was pleased to see that the Government is finally recognising the current law is causing real harm to dying people like me and that doing nothing isn’t an option.

“This inquiry must help MPs understand action must be taken to avoid the terminally ill, and their families, having to suffer like mine.

“A change in the law won’t come in time for me, but I hope by sharing my story, the committee will recognise that the status quo is not working. I want the Health and Social Care Select Committee to hear my story and that of others like me.”

Daughter, Katie was diagnosed with cancer after a growth appeared in her right cheek.

She was told that the average life expectancy with her type of sarcoma was around five years.

Surgeons operated to remove the tumour, but she was left permanently disfigured after losing an eye and much of her face, as well as the palate of her mouth.

Initially, Katie coped well, but she gradually became more reclusive as her suffering deepened.

David discovered he had terminal cancer, on the same day his daughter was told she had just months to live.

“Every year, hundreds of dying people are taking their own lives, or like my daughter Katie, they are suffering painful deaths despite receiving good care.

"These stories must be listened to and be at the heart of this inquiry if a proper and fair examination of the law is going to take place.”

David believes those who have experienced the death of a loved one have the most to contribute to the debate. He also has a son, Matthew, and shares five young grandchildren with his second wife Sue.

“Millions of people around the world now have the option of assisted death.

"I would ask the committee what they would want for the end of their lives and for their loved ones, if they were faced with unbearable suffering as they die?

“I support giving dying people, who are in the last months of their life, the choice. They would need to be terminally ill and have the mental capacity to make the decision, with strict checks and balances in place to protect people.

“They should have access to all of the care and treatment currently available alongside this.

"If I had the choice, I would be so comforted knowing I could end my pain, when it became too much.

“I call on the Select Committee to listen to the wishes of dying people like me when they are examining the current law.

"There is huge public support for it and the Government must make time for assisted dying, to allow MPs time to fully and properly debate this issue and vote on it.

“Dying people want this choice and deserve it.”