Doctor aids paralysed Leeds man in ‘right to die’ challenge

Paul Lamb, 58, has taken on the case begun by Tony Nicklinson, saying the “cruel” law that forbids assisted deaths must be changed.

Mr Nicklinson, 58, died last year shortly after he lost his legal bid to end his life with a doctor’s help, but his family won permission to continue his campaign.

Mr Lamb, who has waived anonymity to speak out, has joined the challenge, with the two cases to be heard in the Court of Appeal on May 14 and 15.

After being told he can take on Mr Nicklinson’s fight, Mr Lamb said in a statement: “I hope that this is the next step towards the ultimate goal of changing this cruel law, which keeps people like me alive when I want to have a dignified death.

“To be given this chance of being involved in the case makes me very proud. I have always been an extremely strong character and when I believe in something, I can take on the world. So, for the sake of everyone in this country who deserves the right to have a dignified death, I hope that we can make this happen.”

Mr Lamb was severely injured in a car accident in 1990 but remembers virtually nothing about the moment that changed his life. For the last 23 years he has been unable to use any of his limbs apart from slight movement in his right hand, is in constant pain and needs round-the-clock care.

As the Court of Appeal heard Mr Lamb’s request last month for the right to pick up where Mr Nicklinson left off, he said in a statement that life was “pointless” and he would like a doctor to help him die by lethal injection, preferably in his own home.

Mr Lamb added: “I consider that I have lived with these conditions for a lot of years and have given it my best shot. Now I feel worn out and I am genuinely fed up with my life.

“I feel that I cannot and do not want to keep living. I feel trapped by the situation and I have no way out. I am not getting any younger and I cannot carry on as all that my life consists of is being fed and watered.

“I feel that the truth is that I have had enough. I have been in pain since July 1990 and there is no way of getting rid of the root pain. My daily routine is tedious, monotonous and pointless. I often go to bed early at 5pm - such is the pointlessness of it all.

“I am 58 years of age and I am fed up of going through the motions of life rather than living it. I feel that enough is enough.

“People tell me that I must keep trying - but there is only so much that a person can take.

“I wish I could end my own life but I cannot.”

He said he felt “genuinely terrified” by the prospect of having no control over his life or death and said: “What I would like to do is be able to hug those people who are closest to me and say goodbye to them. I wish to end my life in a dignified way, preferably without pain. I wish to find peace.”

Following Mr Lamb’s decision to waive his anonymity, his lawyer Saimo Chahal, of Bindmans LLP, said today: “My client, Paul Lamb has decided that he is willing to speak about his situation publicly now having discussed with family and friends his wish to terminate his life with the help of a doctor at the right moment.

“He is willing to engage in the debate as Tony Nicklinson did. He is clear and determined in his wish to see a change in the law which he considers wholly wrong and out of date for a person in his situation, and for others like him.”

Mr Nicklinson’s widow Jane, who has continued the campaign following her husband’s death, expressed her gratitude to Mr Lamb for bringing his case to public attention.

“He is in constant pain,” she told BBC Breakfast.

“He’s had this for 23 years and nothing they do will alleviate the pain and he’s had enough. He’s just tired of living like this.”

Mrs Nicklinson said there was a “huge amount of support” for a move to change the law, despite pro-life campaigners suggesting otherwise.

She added: “In my mind, the severely disabled are being blatantly discriminated against. Why shouldn’t they have the same rights as everyone else?

“There would obviously be huge safeguards put in place so that people are protected. I know for a fact that there are many, many severely disabled people or people that have degenerative illnesses that know that one day, they will be severely disabled, that want a change in the law.”

Mr Nicklinson was a keen sportsman until he was paralysed by a stroke while on a business trip to Athens in 2005.

He was left upset by the court’s decision after it ruled against his wish to end his life last year.

The father of two died at his home in Melksham, Wiltshire, surrounded by family on August 22 after he began refusing food and contracted pneumonia.

Mrs Nicklinson later vowed to continue the legal battle which, she said, was “part of Tony’s legacy”.

Disability charity Scope today strongly opposed any changes to the law and said Mr Lamb’s views are not shared by many disabled people.

Scope’s chief executive, Richard Hawkes, said: “It is important that the views of Paul Lamb, who has taken up the legal challenge begun by the late Tony Nicklinson, are set in context.

“Although many people will sympathise with these cases, we must remember that the current law on assisted suicide protects the lives of disabled people in Britain.

“Many disabled people tell us that without this legal protection, they would live under the assumption that they are a burden on society more widely and their loved ones.

“We must avoid any temptation to change assisted suicide laws based on a couple of undeniably heart-wrenching and tragic cases. Many disabled people are against any weakening of the law, and their voices need to be heard in this debate.”