'Best palliative care in the world does not stop the mental pain'

THE mental anguish of waiting to die cannot be eased even by the very best palliative care, MPs have been told as they prepare to vote on assisted dying.

- Hanna Geissler Health Editor

The warning came from a woman who cared for her terminally ill sister as she died of appendix cancer.

Catherine Eden, 52, moved in with sister Claire for seven months after she was diagnosed in 2019.

Social worker Claire received a good medical redundancy payout and was lucky that Catherine was able to move to Archway, North London, from her home in Brighton to care for her.

Suffering

Catherine said: “Claire got really good palliative care but it was the mental suffering, the anguish, and the mental pain of waiting to die while not really living that was really hard. It’s the knowledge that you're going to die. You could have the best palliative care in the world, but you would still be living with that.”