Everyone has the right to be able to make their own choices

IWATCHED the rugby last weekend and was glued to the TV. I was thrilled we won, coming second in the championship.

I am usually working so I was enjoying having the TV remote control all to myself.

However, I was very struck by former nun Kate Tobin, who was a guest on The Ray D’Arcy Show later that evening. It brought me back down to earth.

This lady is an MS sufferer and is in steady decline. She is campaigning for the right to choose when and where she will die and it is clear Kate has thought about this long and hard.

The Waterford native spent 15 years as a nun and worked as a palliative care nurse until she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2013, at the age of 50.

She takes 50 tablets a day to battle this disease and has little hope for the future.

You could see the difficulty she had giving the interview and you could feel her immense pain. God bless her.

Kate was a member of the Augustinian Order in the UK and when she left she became a nurse at a renowned Harley Street clinic, so she clearly has vast medical knowledge and is very aware of her prognosis.

She knows exactly what is ahead of her. She is having great difficulty swallowing and she knows the chances are she will be fed by a tube into her stomach, and will end up in hospital, completely dependent on someone for her every need.

Kate wants to end her life while she still has the wherewithal to organise it. As she said herself, if she were an animal in such pain she would be put out of her misery. As medicine and technology improve, the human race is living longer, but not every ailment is curable.

I have to admit, I feel for Kate and I don’t think she should have to travel to another country to end her life with dignity. She will need assistance — but she does not want anyone to do prison time for helping her.

She wants the right to die just like the late Marie Fleming, another brave MS sufferer who died in December 2013 after she had brought her case to the High Court and was turned down by the Supreme Court.

Kate knows all about God and religion. She believes in the afterlife and I particularly liked the fact she said she hopes St. Peter will welcome her at the Pearly Gates, telling her she has already completed her time in Purgatory here on earth.

Why can we not have assisted death in these cases? I was always taught that God was merciful, so why can the lawmakers in this wonderful little country of ours not be the same? Everyone has the right to be able to make their own choices, and please God, common sense will prevail and this brave lady will die with the dignity she deserves.