Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die Page #5

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But I think I know more about

Alzheimer's and some of the

things that happen than my wife.

'It occurs to me that the similarity

between Mick and Peter'

is that they've

made their own choice,

and I think that is important.

Everybody should have the choice.

But, tragically,

there are some people who feel

they have no choice at all.

'In Britain, if you wish

to die without being

in anyone else's care,

'then your only option'

is the good old-fashioned

do-it-yourself suicide.

As a journalist, I came across

suicide over and over again,

which I can heartily not

recommend to anybody,

having seen

the aftermath of quite a few.

'I went to meet a man who has

had to face the dark thoughts

'that can come with living with

a painful and incurable disease,

'in his case, multiple sclerosis.'

Hello? Hey, there.

You would be Andrew, I expect.

Terry. How are you?

Fine, thank you. Yourself?

Sorry, it's not the thing

you kind of expect -

Terry Pratchett just to wander

into your living room. It's...

How old are you, Andrew?

When did you get...

MS, isn't it? Yes. MS.

I started to have tiny symptoms

going back to the '90s,

but I was actually diagnosed

in 2003.

Most mornings, I get out of the bed

by falling out of bed.

Then I'll have to crawl

from room to room when I'm bad.

All I have to look forward to now

is things getting worse.

It's like walking down

an alley

that's getting...narrower

with no doors. It's sort of...

Less place to move around. Yeah.

I can't, and I don't want to,

live the life I've got now.

What other things

have you considered?

I have tried and I seem fairly

indestructible on that point.

You have tried to kill yourself,

yes? Yes.

How many times?

Er, two.

How? Right...

Once was I took three

months' worth of morphine tablets,

and that should have flattened

an elephant, initially.

But, apparently, no.

All I did is knock myself out

for five days.

I kind of opened my eyes, and the

very first thing that flashed across

my mind was,

"Oh, for...!"

It was just utter frustration.

It comes to the point

where I'm going to have

to rely on somebody else,

pay somebody else

to do it for me, and do it properly.

I would like to have

a death which is...

comfortable,

relatively...painless.

And I'm really of the opinion

that...

why shouldn't I?

Do you think you might go one day?

Er, yes.

I have an appointment. It's already

sorted. What, actually the day?

Yes, the day. Yeah.

When will you be travelling

to Dignitas?

I fly out on Sunday.

I go in there,

there's this...there's this kid.

I was astonished.

You know, I wish there was time

to get to know Andrew.

Very likeable person too.

For a stranger to turn up and say,

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