Jane Popplewell, 63, has been diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, and fears she could die in pain.
A terminally ill grandmother today tells MPs: “I’ve had a good life, I would like the choice of a good death.”
Jane Popplewell, 63, has been diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, and fears she could die in pain.
Explaining why she backs Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill she said: “I feel passionately about this. It’s about choice in a liberal society. My understanding is about 80% of the electorate are in favour.
“It’s not about forcing it on anyone. It’s about not dying in an undignified or painful way. Who would want that?
“When you have a terminal illness, the fact it might happen to you, it’s difficult to imagine what that’s like until it does.
“Who knows what my end will be like. I’ve led a good life and I would like the choice of a good death. I feel that everyone should have the right to that choice.”
Removing her blonde wig, to show the reality of living with terminal cancer, Jane said she had the full support of husband Tony, 62, and her two children. She also told how they had taken the difficult decision to explain her situation to her three grandchildren, aged 15, 13 and 11.
She said: “We’ve been honest with them, obviously we’ve differentiated between their ages. I’ve explained to them that this is so important to me and my beliefs. It’s about choice.
“We are all going to die, that’s the one certainty. We didn’t want to dwell on it, but I have got a terminal illness.”
She said her youngest granddaughter had been upset, but she was invited into the oncology unit to see the work they do
Jane, who supports the Dignity in Dying group, said: “Sometimes the unknown is more scary than the known .We spoke about it and it’s been really helpful. I’ve got no complaints about the NHS, my treatment and care, I couldn’t have asked for more.”
Jane was first diagnosed in August 2023 after a fall. X-rays revealed something was wrong and in November the word “cancer” was used for the first time.
She said: “It took a long time to process. They were trying to find if it was in my blood or my bones,”
It was only after further test in Birmingham that sarcoma cancer – a rare soft tissue cancer – was diagnosed.
Jane said her life has totally changed over the past 18 months: “I’ve gone from the point of working three days a week, working as a quality manager in care homes, driving everywhere, being an active member of the community, having a social life with my grandchildren, to how I am now.
“It’s an aggressive and rare cancer. It’s weird, because the word ‘terminal’ was used from the get go. When we went to the appointment Tony took a pen and paper to write everything down. When I looked over it was on the floor and he was crying.
“I just said ‘why are you doing that?’ It took a long, long time for me to come to terms with it. That is the Jane that was, this is Jane now.”
Since the diagnosis she has undergone radiotherapy and is now on her third course of chemotherapy. But she has received the devastating news that the cancer has spread to her lungs and liver.
She said: “I do have my down moments but I try to stay positive. I don’t think about the timeline, I take it moment by moment. I’m lucky to have the support from my family and friends
“I feel like I still have a purpose in life, I can still make a difference. By supporting this bill I could still make a difference for other people.
“I’ve never smoked and been a veggie since I was 20. I’ve lived a healthy life. But I’ve never really asked ‘why me?’ If I get what I call ‘stinky thinking’ I just take myself off to bed.”
She added: “Even if this bill is passed it probably won’t help me. It’s the first step in a long process. But I hope my story, my photo, my legacy helps change someone’s mind.”
Jane’s letter to MPs
Dear Members of Parliament,
I and the undersigned write to you as you prepare to vote on the assisted dying Bill at its Third Reading. We are a group of terminally ill people from all walks of life and areas of the country, but we stand united with one message: please vote for change, our deaths depend on it.
I live with a terminal sarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer. I am receiving excellent care from my medical team but every day I carry around the fear that I will die in pain. Having the choice of assisted dying would allow me to live better now, with the comfort of knowing that I will have a say in how I die if my pain becomes unbearable.
I know people with my cancer can die badly, and I also managed a care home and saw residents die without the benefit of this choice. I do not want to travel to Switzerland to die. My cancer has spread and I find it difficult to move around, so traveling hundreds of miles is daunting for me. Plus, it costs £15,000, and who has that kind of money lying around?
The people who have signed this letter all have different experiences with their illnesses. Some are living in constant pain, some live in fear of how they will die, even though they are receiving excellent care like me. Some have motor neurone disease and may soon lose their ability to speak. They want to use their voices to fight for change while they still can.
Without an assisted dying law, our choices are very limited. Unfortunately some people do suffer at the end of their lives, despite excellent palliative care. Hundreds every year take their own lives, often dying brutal and lonely deaths, keeping their plans a secret from their families. Some, if they have the money, travel abroad to die, often dying sooner than they want to, just so they can make the journey.
If we lived in Australia, New Zealand or some US States, we would have this choice at the end of our lives. There is no reason why we shouldn’t join the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who already have the choice of assisted dying.
Kim Leadbeater’s Bill has given us all hope. The Bill includes the world ’s strictest safeguards such as the need to be assessed by two independent doctors and a panel including a judge or senior lawyer, a social worker and psychiatrist to make sure the dying person is making an informed choice free from coercion.
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Kim, the Bill Committee and all MPs during Report Stage have worked hard to ensure this Bill is workable, safe and practical, while also giving dying people like us the compassion and choice we are asking for.
We write to you not just for our own deaths, but for the sake of our families who do not want to see us suffer, for all those who have gone before us and died before the law changed, and for everyone in this country who might want this choice in the future, and who deserve better than the dangerous and outdated blanket ban on assisted dying.
Please vote for choice and compassion. Please vote in support for the assisted dying bill. Vote for us. When we cannot stay, let us choose how we go.
Yours sincerely,
Jane Popplewell, living with terminal sarcoma
