Prue Leith has opened up about the tragic loss of her brother David, who passed away from bone cancer in 2012. The Great British Bake Off judge spoke out in support of Noel Conway, who suffers from motor neurone disease and is currently appealing the ban on assisted dying in the UK. According to The Telegraph, Prue said that David "suffered months of agony and a horrific death from bone cancer". She continued: "David’s doctors would not give him enough morphine 'for fear he’d become addicted'.
Prue and her Great British Bakeoff co-stars
"The real reason, of course, was the fear of being prosecuted for unlawful killing if the extra morphine should hasten his death. We should not put patients or doctors in this untenable position," she said. South Africa-based Paul was 74 when he passed away, having become ill during a visit to England to see his son and daughter.
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On visiting a doctor, he was diagnosed with bone cancer. After becoming too ill to travel, he eventually refused antibiotics in order to allow pneumonia to set in and end his suffering. Prue, 78, decided to share Paul's story in support of Dignity in Dying, the campaign group that is backing Noel's case.
Sir Patrick Stewart also spoke out for the cause
Another star to speak out in support of the cause is Sir Patrick Stewart - who shared his experience of seeing a friend suffering with cancer, before she tragically took her own life. "How can we continue to support the status quo when it forces dying people to resort to such drastic measures?" he asked.
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