Tony Nicklinson dies six days after losing 'right to die' caseTony Nicklinson, the locked-in syndrome sufferer who went to the high court to fight to be allowed to end his life with the help of a doctor, has died, just six days after losing the case, his lawyers said. He had been refusing food since the verdict, but contracted pneumonia and "went rapidly downhill last weekend", they said.
His lawyer, Saimo Chahal of Bindmans, said Nicklinson's wife, Jane, told her after the draft judgment was handed down on 12 August that "the fight seemed to go out of him".
"He said that he was heartbroken by the high court's decision that he could not end his life at a time of his choosing with the help of a doctor," Chahal said.
Nicklinson, 58, died at home at 10am on Wednesday, with his wife, his daughters Beth and Lauren, as well as his sister Ginny, at his side. All had supported his legal action to be helped to die.
Wiltshire police said Nicklinson's doctor had certified that his death was from natural causes and they were not involved.
Chahal visited Nicklinson two days after the high court decision, along with his barrister, Paul Bowen QC. Communicating via a computer, which he operated by eye movements, he told her: "So, we lost. In truth I am crestfallen, totally devastated and very frightened. I fear for the future and the misery it is bound to bring.
"I suppose it was wrong of me to invest so much hope and expectation into the judgment but I really believed in the veracity of the arguments and quite simply could not understand how anybody could disagree with the logic. I guess I forgot the emotional component."
[cont..] Parliament have completely stonewalled this, evading their ethical responsibility. It's so utterly shocking that people can be so morally blind. It makes me so fucking angry. They need their face pressed in it under a boot heel and be forced to acknowledge the suffering they cause.