A mum-of-four is planning to end her own life in Switzerland after Long Covid has left her bedbound, in constant pain, and unable to care for her children anymore.
Desperately ill mum Kelly Louise Smith-May, is seeking £10,000 to travel to an assisted dying facility in Switzerland "to end her suffering" with the blessing of her family after battling Long Covid since December 2021.
The 39-year-old's condition has gradually deteriorated ever since and she is unable to care for her children. Now she has come to the agonising conclusion that she must end her life. Mrs Smith-May's family, who fully support her heartbreaking choice, said: "She didn't come to this decision easily."
According to a heartbreaking GoFundMe post authored by a close friend, Mrs Smith-May, from Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, is no longer able to look after her children — Kai, Tawny, Zayn, and Jett — "whom she absolutely adores with every piece of her heart."
She has also become 'totally dependent' on her husband Stuart. Mrs Smith-May, a stay-at-home mum, described own her illness as "being poisoned every minute of the day" and a 'living death sentence', according to the fundraising note.
Her family plan on taking her by campervan via the Euro Tunnel to France, then onto the Swiss Pegasos clinic. "She spends all day every day in the dark, painfully sensitive to light, noise, smells, and movement,' a fundraising page for the family reads.
"She can no longer sit, stand, or walk. She can barely talk. She has severe insomnia and when she can get a few hours of sleep, it’s un-restorative. Due to painful neurological symptoms, she can’t tolerate music, TV, or interacting with friends. She cannot care for her four children whom she absolutely adores with every piece of her heart," the page reads.
The fundraiser describes how Mrs Smith-May didn't come to decision to seek euthanasia overseas easily, describing the 22 months of suffering she's experienced as 'enough'.
"There is no cure and all possible treatments have failed her,"the page reads. "Kelly has seen doctors, been to facilities, and exhausted every recommended means of improving her condition with no results."She suffers continuous pain throughout her body that doctors are unable to relieve, leaving her with no choice but to end her own suffering."
The fundraising page, penned by an unidentified family friend, asks people to please help the family fulfil Mrs Smith-May's last wish.
"Your kindness and generosity will give to Kelly the gift of freedom from pain with respect for her family, who support her choice and want to honour the woman she is," it adds.
Long Covid symptoms according to NHS:
- extreme tiredness (fatigue)
- feeling short of breath
- loss of smell
- muscle aches
- problems with your memory and concentration ("brain fog")
- chest pain or tightness
- difficulty sleeping (insomnia)
- heart palpitations
- dizziness
- pins and needles
- joint pain
- depression and anxiety
- tinnitus, earaches
Assisted Dying - The Law
Helping someone to take their own life is punishable with up to 14 years in prison in the England, Wales and Northern Ireland. No specific law exists in Scotland helping someone end their own life but it could lead to to prosecution for culpable homicide.
Terminally ill Brits pay thousands to go overseas for their assisted death and charities estimate that one Brit travels overseas for assisted dying every eight days. There are currently proposals to change the law in some parts of the UK.
In Scotland, Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur lodged the final proposal to introduce a Member's Bill which would legalise assisted dying for people who are terminally ill, though no date has been given yet for when this might be considered.
A public consultation on a Private Member's Bill on assisted dying closed on the Isle of Man at the end of January. A consultation on assisted dying proposals also took place and publication of a consultation feedback report is expected in April.