Irish family shocked by message from assisted dying clinic

Extra.ie​

8 hours ago

An Irish family has been left reeling after allegedly receiving a text message from a suicide clinic in Switzerland informing them that their mother was dead, and her ashes would be arriving in the post.
58-year-old Maureen Slough, based in Co Cavan, travelled to the Pegasos clinic on July 8, telling her family she was going to Lithuania with a friend, according to the Irish Independent.
However, the woman's daughter, Megan, says she was shocked when she received a WhatsApp message saying her mother had died listening to gospel music sung by Elvis Presley, while her family believed she was holidaying in Lithuania. Maureen Slough, a 58-year-old mother from Cavan who reportedly took her own life at the Pegasos clinic, and her daughter Megan Royal. Pic: Facebook
Now her family is demanding answers to find out why their mother, who they say attempted suicide a year earlier following the deaths of her two sisters, was able to seek assisted dying without the family being informed.
Her daughter Megan told the Irish Independent that she had to track her mother's ashes through the postal system.
It's reported that after the shock of finding out Ms Slough had travelled alone to Switzerland and paid a reported £13,000 to the Pegasos Swiss Association to facilitate her death two days later, the family began investigating how this could have happened
They were shocked to find that Pegasos accepted their mother's application, considering her long history of mental illness, and claimed the clinic did not inform the family of her plan. Ms Slough allegedly travelled alone to Switzerland and paid £13,000 to the Pegasos Swiss Association to facilitate her death two days later. Pic: Facebook
But the Pegasos group has allegedly said that it received a letter from Ms Slough's daughter, Megan, saying she was aware of her mother's desire to die and that she had accepted her decision, something Megan has denied.
The clinic also claimed it verified the authenticity of the letter through an email response to Ms Royal, using an email address supplied by her mother, but Megan insists she never wrote such a letter or verified any contact from the clinic, and the family claim their mother may have forged the letter and then verified it using an email address she created herself.
This is not the first time the non-profit assisted dying clinic Pegasos has attracted controversy. Alistair Hamilton with his mother Judith. Pic: ITV
In 2023, Alistair Hamilton, a 47-year-old teacher from the UK, with no diagnosed illness, took his own life at the Swiss clinic, without the knowledge of his family, and after that case, Pegasos reportedly promised it would always contact a person's relatives before carrying out assisted death.
His mother, Judith, later visited the clinic where her son had died to look for answers.
Since 1942, under Swiss Law, people have been allowed to help others to die, as long as their motives are not for personal gain, such as an inheritance or other form of monetary gain.
The law states that the person wishing to die must be of sound mind, but they do not need to be terminally ill or have any medical conditions. The country's assisted suicide clinics are non-profit organisations.
Earlier this year, British MPs voted to change the suicide law in the UK and allow terminally ill people in England and Wales the choice to end their lives.