Dementia patient: 'I will choose the date of my death'

Alex Pandolfo, 63, says he wants to choose when he will die because of his developing dementia. Photo / Getty Images

An academic who is in the early stages of dementia has become the first person in Britain with the disease to speak publicly about his intention to end his life at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland.

Alex Pandolfo, 63, says he wants to choose when he will die because he cannot face the agony caused by the progressive and incurable disease - after witnessing the suffering and indignity endured by his father, who also had the illness.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, the former university lecturer said his family - his mother and two younger sisters - are fully supportive of his decision. He is unmarried and has no children.

He planned to go to Switzerland at the end of next year, but with his condition worsening he may make the trip within the next few months.

Mr Pandolfo, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2015, said: "I want to go to Switzerland because I don't want to live with what my dementia will bring to me.

"I'm not prepared to go through that suffering and I'm not prepared to give up my autonomy. I'm not prepared to live a life where I cannot even pick up a knife and fork."

Mr Pandolfo, who lives in Lancaster and lectured in education at the town's university, said he watched his 'tough', marathon- running father all but destroyed by dementia. He added: "My father's independence went completely. He couldn't handle the toilet - if he went you'd have to help him. And he'd always be in floods of tears."

Mr Pandolfo emailed the Life Circle assisted suicide centre in Basel two months ago asking for their assistance to take his own life.

He received a prompt reply from the centre's founder, Swiss GP Erika Preisig, saying she could help him have a "peaceful, celebratory death".

Assisted suicide is a criminal offence in the UK, carrying a maximum jail sentence of 14 years. It is legal in Switzerland but Swiss law dictates that dementia patients who want to take their lives must have the mental capacity to choose to do so when the time comes. If the patient's symptoms have progressed too far, the clinic will refuse to assist the suicide.

Mr Pandolfo, who at the moment leads an active life but is suffering memory loss, has to therefore make the careful judgment about when to travel to Switzerland. He said: "My daily worry is that I won't time it right and go when it's too late."

Mr Pandolfo must obtain a report from a psychiatrist stating that he is mentally competent to choose to kill himself. He hopes to be helped by controversial psychiatrist Colin Brewer who, as this newspaper revealed earlier this year, has already assessed six other British dementia patients who ended their lives in Swiss clinics.

Dr Brewer was struck off the medical register in 2006 after the death of a patient he prescribed drugs for at an addiction clinic he ran.

Campaigners say they want assisted dying to be legalised in Britain and Mr Pandolfo is strongly in favour of the law being changed. But critics say that allowing dementia patients to end their lives is "the ultimate abandonment".

Dr Peter Saunders, from the campaign group Care Not Killing, said: "Once we start considering assisted suicide or euthanasia as a solution to suffering and life's problems, that's a very slippery slope indeed. The best way to help dementia patients is to give them the best possible care. Assisted suicide is the ultimate abandonment."

Dr Brewer, who is a leading member of the pro-assisted dying group My Death, My Decision, said: "It is unprecedented for a British dementia patient to go public. Others before have kept their decision a private matter for fear that they or their families may be investigated by the authorities in the UK."

Mr Pandolfo has chosen to receive a fatal dose of sodium pentobarbital through a drip. "I will be lying down and then, when I am ready, I just turn the tap on," he said.

Where to get help:

• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youthline: 0800 376 633
• Kidsline: 0800 543 754 (available 24/7)
• Whatsup: 0800 942 8787 (1pm to 11pm)
• Depression helpline: 0800 111 757 (available 24/7)
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
• Samaritans 0800 726 666

• If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.