A clinic in Switzerland that helps hundreds of people die every year has apologized to the mother of a British man who committed suicide without his family’s knowledge. Following the ITV News investigation, Pegasos said it would change its procedures to ensure relatives are always informed in the future.
Alastair Hamilton, 47, told his mother he was flying to Paris last August but instead went to Basel, where he took a fatal dose of drugs. Judith Hamilton, 82, from Hampton, west London, said that as she saw him off to the airport, her son “put his arms around me, looked straight into my eyes, smiled and said ‘I love you Mum, I love you so much'”. , always was, always will be no matter what'”.
The chemistry teacher had lost significant weight and complained of stomach problems in the months before his death, but had no diagnosed illness. His family was supporting him in seeking medical help and had no idea that he would actually go to Switzerland and end his life.
When he did not return to England and stopped answering his phone, his mother reported him missing. Bank records eventually revealed he had paid Pegasos £11,000 for access to what is known as ‘voluntary assisted dying’ in Switzerland.
ITV News traveled with his family to retrace his final journey and confront the clinic that accepted the online application form the news outlet said it had seen. Alastair, who was limited to 300-word responses, said his undiagnosed condition had left him with “pain, fatigue and discomfort” and that it had “ruined my life”.
But he admitted that there was “no definitive medical explanation at this time” for his illness and that his family did not know he had decided to commit suicide. Despite this, Pegasos accepted his application and was helped to die a few days after arriving in Switzerland.
ITV News managed to trace Alastair’s final journey to an industrial estate on the outskirts of Basel, where he is believed to have died in an office block next to an asphalt factory. At Bradley’s request, his mother and brother took them to see the building, where they experienced great sadness, ITV News reported.
“This is not the best place to go to see the world for the last time. It was even more heartbreaking that someone could have been with him but they didn’t tell us and he didn’t feel it. [he could]” said Bradley.
His mother broke down in tears and said: “I keep saying to myself, ‘Oh Alastair’.”
Following Alastair’s death, his brothers emailed Pegasos numerous times but had to wait for a response. Eventually, with the involvement of the police and the British embassy, the clinic responded, confirming Alastair’s death and delivering his ashes to his family by post.
ITV News persuaded a representative from Pegasos to meet Judith and Bradley in Switzerland to answer their questions. In an unnamed office in the center of Basel, the group is greeted by Sean Davison, who spoke to Alastair several times before he died.
Mr Davison does not work for Pegasos but for a separate organization called Exit International, which advocates for the right to assisted dying. She was the last person Alastair called on his deathbed. Asked by ITV News if he could have tried to stop him, Mr Davison insisted he was trying to dissuade Alastair from taking his own life.
“He said he said [his family], but they didn’t want to talk about it,” Mr Davison said. “He said they didn’t support him. I didn’t know they wouldn’t make it to the end. I had nothing to do with it, I was just his friend.
“He even called me on his deathbed and said, ‘Shaun, I’m so grateful to have a friend to talk to.'” I tried. [to dissuade him] every time I talk to him. I said, ‘You are a handsome man, you have such a life ahead of you.’ “I really begged him, I would never encourage anyone to end their life.”
Following the meeting with Mr Davison, the ITV team were asked to leave before a Pegasos representative entered the room to speak to the Hamilton family. During the meeting, the family said the representative apologized for failings in the way Alistair’s case was handled.
Under Swiss law, anyone can be helped to take their own life, as long as the person helping them does not have selfish motivations. But the best-known clinic, Dignitas, requires people to have a terminal illness, ‘unbearable disability’ or ‘unbearable pain’ to qualify for help.
The Pegasos representative told the Hamilton family that their procedures would now be brought closer to guidelines set by the Swiss Medical Association in 2022, which say the family should always be informed if a relative intends to die. However, they also made it clear that Pegasos did not believe in many of the rules that stated life had to be unbearable before someone could be helped to die.
Following the meeting, Judith and Bradley said they were pleased with Pegasos’ intention to tighten their procedures, but still believed Alastair should not have been allowed to die without their knowledge.
“I was deprived of the chance to go over there and hug him and kiss him goodbye while he was doing that because those checks and balances weren’t in place at Pegasos,” Bradley said.
Judith added: “We were never given the chance to be with him, nor in my case, to drag him home tooth and nail if I had to.”
In response to ITV’s inquiry, Pegasos said: “As was conveyed at the meeting, we would like to reiterate to the family that we are very sorry that our communication last year caused them further distress. We were not sure how to deal with this situation. In terms of communication and from a legal perspective, what we have done today is We hope that our meeting helped them better understand Alastair’s decision and path.
“Pegasos has always respected and continues to comply with applicable Swiss law, without exception… We always request reports from medical experts. A decision can only be made based on these reports, other documents and direct contact with the person concerned.”
“We are aware of our great responsibility. Therefore, in those rare cases where we have reason to assume that no information has been provided to the immediate family by the person seeking voluntary assisted death, we will cancel the procedure immediately.
“The Swiss Medical Association has revised its guidelines for assisted dying in 2022. It is important to understand that these guidelines are not legally binding for associations, but are policies for medical professionals.
“Many organizations involved in assisted dying, including Exit, Dignitas and Pegasos, have publicly opposed the revised guidelines because they put at risk the right to self-determination and freedom of choice of people planning voluntary assisted death in Switzerland.”