Family horror as suicide clinic ‘sends them WhatsApp saying their mum, 58, is dead and her ashes are in the post'

The Sun

2 days ago

AN IRISH family was left devastated after allegedly receiving a text from a Swiss assisted dying clinic that their mum was dead and her ashes would be sent by post.
Maureen Slough, a 58-year-old from Cavan, travelled to the Pegasos clinic on July 8 to seek an assisted death - without her family's knowledge - according to the Irish Independent.
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Maureen reportedly told her family that she and a friend were going to Lithuania.
"I was actually talking to her that morning and she was full of life," Maureen's partner Mick Lynch told the newspaper, speaking about the morning of her death.
"She said after having her breakfast... she was going out to sit in the sun. Maybe she was heading off to that place. I still thought she was coming home."
Her daughter, Megan Royal, then received a heartbreaking WhatsApp message, which allegedly said her mum had died listening to gospel music sung by Elvis Presley.
The family is shocked that the clinic would accept an application for assisted dying from Maureen, who they say had long struggled with mental illness.
She had also attempted suicide a year prior, after the deaths of her two sisters.
Adding to their dismay, the family claims the clinic never informed them of her plans.
Friends are reportedly horrified by the clinic's method of returning the ashes via parcel post.
Her friend, Stephanie Daly, told the newspaper: "You get letters in the post, not people."
Desperate for answers, the family found out Maureen had paid a reported £13,000 to the Pegasos Swiss Association to assist her death.
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The Pegasos group is a non-profit voluntary assisted dying organisation.
According to its website, the clinic believes it's "the human right of every rational adult of sound mind, regardless of state of health, to choose the manner and timing of their death".
The group allegedly said it received a letter from Megan, stating she was aware of and accepted her mum's decision to die.
The clinic also claims it verified the letter's authenticity through an email response from Megan, using an email address her mum provided.
But Megan insists she never wrote the letter or verified any contact from the clinic, the report said.
The family claims Maureen may have forged the letter and created a fake email address to verify it.
Her brother Philip, a UK solicitor, claims Maureen provided the clinic with "letters of complaint to medical authorities in Éire in respect of bogus medical conditions" - which Pegasos then used as supporting documents for her application.
Megan reportedly argues her mum's decision to go to the clinic was made in a state of grief, as a result of her sisters' deaths.
She also cites her mum's difficult upbringing as a child.
It is understood that in the past few weeks, the family has received handwritten goodbye letters from Maureen.
The Pegasos group maintains that it carried out an extensive assessment of Maureen's mental health - including an independent psychiatric evaluation.
They added that Maureen told the clinic she was in unbearable and unrelievable chronic pain and that they received supporting medical documentation from her pain-management consultant.
Regarding the letter, the clinic claims Megan confirmed its authenticity via email and apologised for not being able to accompany her mum to Switzerland.
The clinic claims the letter expressed that while Megan was unhappy with her mum's decision, she accepted it.
Maureen's brother wants the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, along with Swiss authorities, to conduct an investigation.
"I am working on the assumption that my sister created this email and the clinic's procedures were woefully inadequate in verification," he wrote.
"The Pegasos clinic has faced numerous criticisms in the UK for their practices with British nationals, and the circumstances in which my sister took her life are highly questionable."
When approached for comment by the Daily Mail, the Pegasos Swiss Association said it could not "share, confirm, nor deny the identities of our patients in public".
It added: "When talking about voluntary assisted death in Switzerland, it is important to understand that all organisations are legally bound to do careful prior assessment.
"Pegasos has always respected the applicable Swiss law without exception and continues to do so."
Maureen's family's story is not unique.
Other families have also slammed Pegasos, claiming they had no knowledge that their loved ones would undergo assisted deaths.
In 2023, Pegasos reportedly vowed to contact a person's relatives beforehand after 47-year-old teacher Alistair Hamilton - who had no diagnosed illness - died, leaving his family shocked.
However, in 2025, the organisation appeared to break this promise.
Anne Canning, a 51-year-old British mum, who was battling depression after the sudden death of her son 19 months prior, ended her life at the clinic, ITV first reported.
Her family were allegedly not informed of her decision - only finding out after they received goodbye letters she had written shortly before her death.