I hope Tony's death will not end the fight | This is Bath

The widow of ?right-to-die? campaigner Tony Nicklinson has said she hopes the battle to change the law on assisted dying will continue even without the brave Melksham man being around to fight it.

Jane Nicklinson said she hoped ?someone will come forward? to continue the challenge to British law to allow those with ?locked-in syndrome?, which left her husband reliant on others for everything, to be legally killed to end their suffering.

1. Jane Nicklinson

2. Tony and Jane Nicklinson at home in Melksham

Mr Nicklinson died last week just a week or so after hearing his legal challenge to a High Court ruling that doctors ending his life with a lethal injection on his command could not be guaranteed immunity from prosectution.

The 58-year-old took the defeat badly and, speaking for the first time since her husband died, his widow Jane said the fight had gone out of him and he gave up.

Within days of the images of a distraught Tony openly weeping on live television as the verdict was given, he developed pneumonia, refused food or liquid and passed away at home, surrounded by his family.

Mrs Nicklinson said: ?I hope that at some point, someone will come forward and carry on with what Tony started.

?I think we always knew the chances of winning at this stage were slim ? possible but slim ? and we?d never been told anything different so we were prepared for it,? she added.

Mr Nicklinson?s case was heard at the same time as another sufferer of locked-in syndrome, known only as ?Martin? and from East Anglia, and lawyers acting on behalf of both are currently considering an appeal against the judgement which affected both of them.

?I think the moment was the day he broke down in front of all the cameras. I think it really hit him then that everyone else out there was going to know as well. It just completely knocked him for six,? she said. ?I think he had raised his hopes so much ? probably out of proportion. He said he hadn?t been prepared for the emotional side of it for him and he was absolutely devastated.

?It was the day after that he said to me that the fight had just gone,? said Mrs Nicklinson. ?He said he couldn?t take it any more. Within a couple of days he developed pneumonia ? the last 48 hours were pretty unpleasant but thankfully it was quick. It?s just a shame that he couldn?t die the way he wanted to die,? she added.

Mr Nicklinson refused treatment for the pneumonia and died at home. His wife said that if he had won the case, he might well have taken up the option of a lethal injection sooner rather than later, even though he originally said he did not want to die immediately, just wanted to know that he could end his life when he chose to.

Source: http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/hope-Tony-8217-s-death-end-fight/story-16781434-detail/story.html

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