Esther Rantzen's daughter wants to 'ground her plane' if mum flies to Dignitas but it's 'her choice'
Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter has told how she would want to "ground her plane" if her mum flew to Dignitas, but admitted it is her mother’s "choice".
Rebecca Wilcox admitted her mum’s health plight is "horrific", but insisted Esther is "absolutely correct" that she should make her own decision about her life.
Childline founder Esther, 83, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in January, and revealed at the beginning of December that she had "joined Dignitas", an assisted-dying clinic based in Switzerland.
Speaking on 'Good Morning Britain', Rebecca said: "My mother never makes a decision in complete isolation but doesn't care what anyone else thinks.
"It’s horrific and she always promised us she would live forever and she not one to break her promises - but this is her choice.
“I would want to ground her plane if she was going to Zurich but it's her choice. She is absolutely correct."
Rebecca revealed one of the reasons her mother has joined Dignitas is because her father, documentary maker Desmond Wilcox, had a "horrific" death from heart disease in 2000.
She added: "My late father didn't have a good death. It was horrific.
"His death replaced our memories of him for a very long time.
"That is what mum wants to avoid."
Esther first revealed she had joined Dignitas at the start of the month.
Writing in The Times' Weekend magazine, she revealed: "I rang my local surgery to tell them my diagnosis and ask if they had links to a hospice nearby. I spoke to someone who was not my usual doctor, and when I explained my situation he accused me of 'catastrophising'. Slightly harsh, I thought.
"So I didn’t share with him the fact that I had joined Dignitas in case things got rough and I needed to fly to Zurich to end my life there.
"I can’t say my medical friends approve of that, but I know that having a bad death, one dominated by pain and other horrible symptoms, is dreadful for loved ones to witness, and that memory becomes a barrier blocking out other, happy ones.
"So I’m determined to do everything I can to try to achieve a good death, including flying to Zurich for a quick lethal dose of something, if necessary."
She spoke about her decision again this week, telling Radio 4's ‘The Today’ podcast she was undergoing a "miracle" treatment for stage four lung cancer and said if it fails she "might buzz off to Zurich".
