Terminally ill motor neurone disease sufferer reveals to friends the date of his assisted suicide on LinkedIn page

Simon Binner, a former operations director at a south London home care provider, updated his page to include the date he will die at a Swiss euthanasia clinic
Tragedy: Debbie and motor neurone disease sufferer Simon Binner in a video speaking about his wish for assisted suicide to be legal in the UK
Bindmans LLP & British Humanist Association
Jamie Bullen16 October 2015

A company director dying from motor neurone disease has taken to his LinkedIn page to reveal when he is planning to end his life in a Swiss euthanasia clinic.

Simon Binner, 57, former operations director at home care provider Caremark, based in Sutton, told his business connections he would end his life at Eternal Spirit - an assisted-dying organisation in Basel - after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The former Cambridge University graduate, who lives in Purley, even told people when his funeral would take place and the reason why he planned to take his life.

He posted: "I was diagnosed with aggressive Motor Neurone Disease (MND) on 7 Jan 2015. As I was driven home I had already decided what I would gladly have to do when my time was upon me.

Mr Binner said he made the decision because his disease had "accelerated very rapidly"
LinkedIn

"I died in Switzerland with Eternal Spirit on Mon 19 Oct 2015 and my funeral was on Fri 13 Nov 2015.

"My MND accelerated very rapidly. The sawbones initially thought I would last until 2017/2018, but they were mistaken - no worries, it's an inexact science!

"I don't recommend MND! Better to have one massive fatal stroke or be killed instantly by a drunk driver! There is nothing that I can say that's positive about MND."

In a video filmed with the law firm Bindmans LLP and the British Humanist Association, his wife Debbie said he wanted to spend one final Christmas with his family but decided to board the plane to Switzerland while he could of his own accord.

What is MND?

Motor neurone disease is a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system, leading to muscle weakness and often visible wasting.

Those who suffer from it find it difficult to walk, speak, swallow and breathe and eventually the person may become unable to move.

There are about 5,000 people living with the condition in the UK, according to the NHS.

There is no known cure for the condition.

She said: "Simon believes very strongly that this should be his legal right. He does not want to go to Switzerland. He wants to be at home as much as possible.

"The most important thing to say is that Simon believes that if that was available in the UK he may well want to stay alive longer. Christmas would be lovely for us to have.

"But he feels he has to go at time when he can walk onto the plane because he has to do that stuff himself. It feels a very brutal pre-planned thing that we are going to have to do."

Mr Binner, his speech slurred as a result of his condition, added in the moving footage: "I don't want to go to Switzerland either. I want to be here for Christmas but I can't be because I don't know. I have to go."

He feels he has to go at time when he can walk onto the plane because he has to do that stuff himself

&#13; <p>Debbie Binner</p>&#13;

British Humanist Association (BHA) chief executive Andrew Copson said Mr Binner's story highlighted the need to change the law on assisted dying.

He said: "The tragedy at the heart of Simon's story is that if the law allowed people with incurable and terminal conditions to seek a doctor-assisted death in this country, he and others like him would have more time to spend with their loved ones before their conditions became intolerable for them.

"The current law heaps unnecessary suffering and trauma on to families like the Binners.

"Our thoughts of course continue to be with them at this difficult time.

"We continue to support a change in the law for those who are terminally and incurably suffering to end their lives, provided they have made a rational, committed, and uncoerced decision to do so, just as Simon has made for himself."

Additional reporting by the Press Association

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in