An inspirational story from a remarkable and determined lady

THE public persona of the crusading, wheelchair-bound Marie Fleming became familiar to us all as we tuned into the news daily in 2013 to hear what progress her campaign had made. Collectively we listened with bated breath to snippets of her eloquent arguments and willed her to succeed in getting the law on assisted suicide overturned.

She won her hearts but she did not win the legal battle and eight months after the High Court decision, sadly she passed away. Her legacy was that of a fighter, a survivor and the High Court president described her as ‘one of the most remarkable witnesses to come before the courts’.

An Act of Love is a powerful and poignant account of the life of Multiple Sclerosis sufferer Marie Fleming, who fought bravely and courageously for the right to die with dignity. Prior to her death she had begun to write her memoir with Sue Leonard, transcribing her notes in longhand first, then writing on her laptop and, in the later stages of her illness, when her hands were no longer able to type, by dictating.

Marie Fleming’s life story is a truly remarkable one and tragedy began at a very early age for Marie in Donegal with a tumultuous home life, including a runaway mother, a depressed father and four younger siblings that she was forced to leave school to care for.

She was still a child of 16 herself when she became pregnant and was sent to the local convent, which also held a Magdalene laundry, where she fought with determination and strength to keep her baby, Corrinna. It was in her early twenties, despite the upheavals that she had faced in her young life, that she returned to college to study for her MBA.

An Act of Love is an unforgettable inspirational story of determination, survival and love but furthermore firmly places the issue of the right to die with dignity on the political stage nationally. It is a wonderfully written, emotionally charged account of a woman who knew what it meant to be alive.

Marie Fleming lived and died in Killahurler, Co Wicklow, just outside Arklow, and wrote the book in conjunction with author and journalist Sue Leonard who lives in Ashford, Co Wicklow.