Woman begs for right to die

A woman paralysed from the neck down lay in her hospital bed today and told a judge: "I want to be allowed to die."

Her stark request came in one of the most extraordinary scenes ever conducted by the High Court during a specially-convened hearing at her bedside. It was relayed back to the Royal Courts of Justice on television screens.

The woman, a former social care professional in her forties, was paralysed 11 months ago by a burst blood vessel. She is fighting for the right to turn off her ventilator which is keeping her alive. The move is opposed by her doctors at her hospital in the South-East on ethical grounds.

She was covered in sheets and a white blanket pulled up above her chest. Around her were lawyers, medical staff and Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, president of the Family Division.

The woman, whose identity is not being revealed, took the oath after a court official held the Bible to her right hand. The quality of the sound link was poor. The woman was attached to the ventilator by a tube linked to her neck which pumped air over her vocal cords so she could talk and breathe at the same time.

But there was no doubting her conviction as she told those around her: "I want to be able to die."

She was asked by her counsel Philip Havers QC whether she wanted to leave the hospital where she was being treated and be taken somewhere else for her wish to be carried out. The woman, who is single with no children, replied: "Yes."

Mr Havers continued: "Your wish is not to be ventilated, is that right?" She answered: "Yes."

Asked by Robert Francis QC, representing the NHS trust: "Is it your wish to die or is it your wish not to remain alive in your present condition?"

She answered: "The latter." Questioned whether the consequences of her decision had been fully explained to her by her doctors and if so was it still her wish, she replied: "Yes."

The bedside hearing lasted 70 minutes and had opened with the woman taking the oath.

The judge and lawyers are due to return to the High Court this afternoon when the resumed hearing would be sent via the same audio-visual TV link back to the hospital-to allow her to follow proceedings. It is expected to last for the rest of the week and the judge will reserve her ruling.

Dame Elizabeth told the woman that she had chosen a "very difficult" section of the law which "is evolving and you realise you have raised an issue that most people would wish to avoid".

She added: "The court and the lawyers will be conscientious and will be detached. It is not the job of the judge or the lawyers to be involved in emotion. Whatever the outcome of this case it has been a pleasure to meet you.

"The only issue that I have to decide is whether you have the right to make this decision."

The judge also stressed that if she found in favour of the woman she should not immediately demand that the ventilator be switched off but consider other options put forward including rehabilitation.

The woman, who is described as "very courageous" by her solicitor, says that being unable to move or breathe unaided gives her no quality of life. Her condition is described as stable but her chances of improvement are said to be less than one per cent.

Her doctors are fighting her right to die on ethical grounds which, the woman told the court, she entirely accepted. She said understood that they believed that switching off the ventilator in these circumstances would be the equivalent of killing her.

She is the first person to personally ask for the ventilator to be turned off.

Two other landmark cases which have come before the court are substantially different.

Motor neurone disease sufferer Diane Pretty had applied to the court for her husband to be granted immunity from prosecution to help her commit suicide because she needed his active assistance.

Football fan Tony Bland had been left in a permanent vegetative state after being caught up in the Hillsborough disaster but was incapable of making the decision personally to switch the machine off.

A court order forbids identification of the woman, her doctors and the hospital and NHS trust involved.

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