California man invites BBC to witness his death as MPs debate assisted dying

It's 10am, and successful a small implicit 2 hours, Wayne Hawkins volition beryllium dead.

The prima is shining connected the bungalow wherever the 80-year-old lives successful San Diego, California with his woman of much than 5 decades, Stella.

I sound connected the doorway and conscionable his children - Emily, 48, and Ashley, 44 - who person spent the past 2 weeks astatine their father's side.

Wayne sits successful a reclining seat wherever helium spends astir of his days. Terminally ill, helium is excessively anemic to permission the house.

He has invited BBC News to witnesser his decease nether California's assisted dying laws - if MPs successful London ballot to legalise the signifier successful England and Wales, it volition let immoderate terminally sick radical present to dice successful a akin way.

Warning: This nonfiction contains details and descriptions immoderate readers whitethorn find disturbing

Half an hr aft arriving astatine Wayne's house, I ticker him swallow 3 anti-nausea tablets, designed to minimise the hazard of him vomiting the lethal medicine helium plans to instrumentality shortly.

Are you definite this time is your last, I inquire him? "I'm each in," helium replies. "I was determined and decided weeks agone - I've had nary trepidation since then."

His household inquire for 1 past photo, which I take, and you tin spot astatine the apical of this page. As usual, Stella and Wayne are holding hands.

Shortly after, Dr Donnie Moore arrives. He has got to cognize the household implicit the past fewer weeks, visiting them connected respective occasions alongside moving his ain end-of-life clinic. Under California law, helium is what is known arsenic the attending doc who indispensable confirm, successful summation to a 2nd doctor, that Wayne is eligible for assistance successful dying.

Dr Moore's relation is portion physician, portion counsellor successful this situation, 1 helium has been successful for 150 assisted deaths before.

On a apical support successful Wayne's chamber sits a brownish solid vessel containing a good achromatic pulverization - a substance of 5 drugs, sedatives and painkillers, delivered to the location 4 weeks before. The dosage of drugs wrong is hundreds of times higher than those utilized successful regular healthcare and is "guaranteed" to beryllium fatal, Dr Moore explains. Unlike California, the projected instrumentality astatine Westminster would necessitate a doc to bring immoderate specified medicine with them.

When Wayne signals helium is ready, the doc mixes the meds with cherry and pineapple foodstuff to soften the bitter sensation - and helium hands this pinkish liquid to Wayne.

No one, not adjacent the doctor, knows however agelong it volition instrumentality him to dice aft taking the lethal drugs. Dr Moore explains to maine that, successful his experience, decease usually occurs betwixt 30 minutes and 2 hours of ingestion, but connected 1 juncture it took 17 hours.

This is the communicative of however and wherefore Wayne chose to die. And wherefore others person decided not to travel the aforesaid course.

We archetypal met the mates a fewer weeks earlier, erstwhile Wayne explained wherefore helium was going up with the determination to person an assisted decease - a arguable measurement successful different parts of the world.

"Some days the symptom is astir much than I tin handle," helium said. "I conscionable don't spot immoderate merit to dying dilatory and painfully, hooked up with worldly - intubation, feeding tubes," helium told me. "I privation nary of it."

Wayne said helium had watched 2 relatives dice "miserable", "heinous" deaths from bosom failure.

"I hatred hospitals, they are miserable. I volition dice successful the thoroughfare first."

Wayne met Stella successful 1969; the mates joined 4 years later. He told america it was thing of an arranged marriage, arsenic his parent kept inviting Stella for meal until yet the penny dropped that helium should instrumentality her out.

They lived for galore years successful Arcata, bluish California, surrounded by sweeping forests of redwood trees, wherever Wayne worked arsenic a scenery architect, portion Stella was a superior schoolhouse teacher. They spent their holidays hiking and camping with their children.

Now Wayne is terminally sick with bosom failure, which has already brought him adjacent to death. He has myriad different wellness issues including prostate cancer, liver nonaccomplishment and sepsis which brings him superior spinal pain.

He has little than six months to live, qualifying him for an assisted decease successful California. His petition to dice has been approved by 2 doctors and the lethal medicine is self-administered.

It was during our archetypal gathering that helium asked the BBC to instrumentality to observe his last day, saying helium wanted terminally sick adults successful the UK to person the aforesaid close to an assisted decease arsenic him.

"Britain is beauteous bully with freedoms and this is conscionable different one," helium said. "People should beryllium capable to take the clip of their decease arsenic agelong arsenic they conscionable the rules similar six months to unrecorded oregon less."

Stella, 78, supports his decision. "I've known him for implicit 50 years. He's a precise autarkic man. He's ever known what helium wants to bash and he's ever fixed things. That's however he's operating now. If this is his choice, I decidedly agree, and I've seen him truly endure with the unwellness he's got. I don't privation that for him."

Wayne would besides suffice nether the projected caller assisted dying instrumentality successful England and Wales. The measures instrumentality to the House of Commons aboriginal this month, erstwhile each MPs volition person a accidental to statement and ballot connected changes to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

The projected legislation, tabled by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, says that anyone who wants to extremity their beingness indispensable person the intelligence capableness to marque the choice, that they indispensable beryllium expected to dice wrong six months, and indispensable marque 2 abstracted declarations - witnessed and signed - astir their privation to die. They indispensable fulfill 2 autarkic doctors that they are eligible.

MPs successful Westminster voted successful favour of assisted dying successful rule past November but stay bitterly divided connected the issue. If they yet determine to o.k. the bill, it could go instrumentality wrong the adjacent twelvemonth and travel into signifier wrong the adjacent 4 years.

A database of organisations successful the UK offering enactment and accusation with immoderate of the issues successful this communicative is disposable astatine BBC Action Line

There are besides divisions present successful California, wherever assisted dying was introduced successful 2016. Michelle and Mike Carter, some 72 and joined for 43 years, are each being treated for crab - Mike has prostate crab that has dispersed to his lymph nodes, and Michelle's precocious terminal ovarian crab has dispersed passim overmuch of her body.

"I held my mother's manus erstwhile she passed; I held my father's manus erstwhile helium passed," Michelle told me. "I judge there's state of prime nevertheless for me, I take palliative care… I person God and I person bully medicine."

Michelle's physician, palliative attraction specializer Dr Vincent Nguyen, argued that assisted dying laws successful the US authorities pb to "silent coercion" whereby susceptible radical deliberation their lone enactment is to die. "Instead of ending people's lives, let's enactment programmes unneurotic to attraction for people," helium said. "Let them cognize that they're loved, they're wanted and they're worthy."

He said the instrumentality meant that doctors person gone from being seen arsenic healers to killers, portion the connection from the healthcare strategy was that "you are amended disconnected dead, due to the fact that you're costly and your decease is cheaper for us".

Some disablement campaigners accidental assisted dying makes them consciousness unsafe. Ingrid Tischer, who has muscular dystrophy and chronic respiratory failure, told me: "The connection that it sends to radical with disabilities successful California is that you merit termination assistance alternatively than termination prevention erstwhile you dependable a tendency to extremity your life.

"What does that accidental astir who we are arsenic a culture?"

Critics often accidental that erstwhile assisted dying is legalised, implicit clip the safeguards astir specified laws get eroded arsenic portion of a "slippery slope" towards much relaxed criteria. In California, determination was initially a mandatory 15-day cooling disconnected play betwixt patients making a archetypal and 2nd petition for assistance successful dying. That has been reduced to 48 hours due to the fact that galore patients were dying during the waiting period. It's thought the support process envisaged successful Westminster would instrumentality astir a month.

'Goodbye,' Wayne tells his family

Outside Wayne's location connected the greeting of his death, a solitary vertebrate begins its large and elaborate song. "There's that mockingbird retired there," Wayne tells Stella, arsenic smiles flicker crossed their faces.

Wayne hates the vertebrate due to the fact that it keeps him awake astatine night, Stella jokes, manus successful manus with him to 1 broadside of his chair. Emily and Ashley are adjacent to Stella.

Dr Moore, seated connected Wayne's different side, hands him the pinkish liquid which helium swallows without hesitation. "Goodnight," helium says to his household - a emblematic interaction of humour from a antheral who told america helium was determined to dice connected his terms. It's 11.47am.

After 2 minutes, Wayne says helium is getting sleepy. Dr Moore asks him to ideate helium is walking successful a immense oversea of flowers with a brushed breeze connected his skin, which seems due for a diligent who has spent overmuch of his beingness among nature.

After 3 minutes Wayne enters a heavy slumber from which helium volition ne'er wake. On a fewer occasions helium lifts his caput to instrumentality a heavy enactment without opening his eyes, astatine 1 constituent opening to snore softly.

Dr Moore tells the household this is "the deepest slumber imaginable" and reassures Emily determination is nary accidental her dada volition aftermath up and ask, "did it work?"

"Oh that would beryllium conscionable similar him," Stella says with a laugh.

The household commencement to reminisce astir hiking holidays and driving astir successful a ample van they converted to go a camper. "Me and dada insulated it and enactment a furniture successful the back," says Ashley.

On the walls are photos of Emily and Ashley arsenic tiny children adjacent to immense carved Halloween pumpkins.

Dr Moore is inactive stroking Wayne's manus and occasionally checking his pulse. For a antheral who Emily says was "always walking, ever outdoors, ever active", these are the last moments of life's journey, spent surrounded by those who mean astir to him.

At 12.22pm Dr Moore says, "I deliberation he's passed… He's astatine bid now."

Outside, the mockingbird has fallen silent. "No much pain," says Stella, embracing her children successful her arms.

I measurement extracurricular to springiness the household immoderate space, and bespeak connected what we person conscionable seen and filmed.

I person been covering aesculapian morals for the BBC for much than 20 years. In 2006, I was contiguous conscionable extracurricular an flat successful Zurich wherever Dr Anne Turner, a retired doctor, died with the assistance of the radical Dignitas - but California was the archetypal clip I had been an eyewitness to an assisted death.

This isn't conscionable a communicative astir 1 man's decease successful California - it's astir what could go a world present successful England and Wales for those who suffice for an assisted decease and take to dice this way.

Whether you're for oregon against the projected caller Westminster law, the decease of a loved 1 is simply a profoundly idiosyncratic and affectional clip for a family. Each decease leaves an imprint, arsenic volition Wayne's.

Additional reporting by Joshua Falcon.

Top representation shows Wayne with his woman Stella (right) and children Emily and Ashley (left), taken connected the time of his death.

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