An Irishman suffering from severe multiple sclerosis who revealed last year on radio that he had contacted an assisted suicide organisation in Switzerland has committed suicide in Zurich, The Irish Times has learned. Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent, reports
The 30-year-old Corkman had been suffering from a particularly virulent form of MS and his condition had worsened considerably in recent months.
Late last month he travelled with a friend to Zurich, where he committed suicide.
In March, The Irish Times reported that a 37-year-old Dublin man who was severely disabled in a train accident travelled to Switzerland for an assisted suicide.
Last year, the Corkman went to Zurich to meet those involved in Dignitas, which assists people suffering from terminal illness to commit suicide but changed his mind. Using a pseudonym he later spoke about the preparations he had made on RTÉ's Marian Finucane Show.
The man, who was a postgraduate student in University College Cork, said he went because he didn't want to end up in a nursing home as his condition worsened and he wanted to die with dignity.
"When my time comes I would of course prefer to die in my own country surrounded by the people I love. I do not relish the idea of going to Switzerland to die in a strange country," he said.
He said he had wanted both to live and to die with dignity. "Since I made my choice, I have regained my dignity and life has been a dream. It has released me from the terror of facing a horrible and painful death. This is not murder or mercy killing. It is an act of self deliverance," he told RTÉ.
Both the man's family and Dignitas yesterday declined to comment on the suicide but The Irish Times has learned that the man, who was wheelchair-bound, travelled to Zurich with a friend and died there a short time later.
Earlier this year, the founder of Dignitas, Ludwig Minelli, told a House of Lords committee on assisted dying that he had met the 30-year-old Irishman in a hotel in Zurich after the man had made contact with the organisation. He said the man had met a local physician and discussed assisted suicide.
The Irishman told them he was determined to go ahead but Mr Minelli gave him a final 30 minutes to confirm his choice and he changed his mind.
His family have been notified by gardaí in Cork that their son "committed suicide in Zurich" after they were contacted by Swiss police. The man was cremated in Zurich but his ashes will be brought back to Ireland.