The widow of TV suicide dad Craig Ewert last night called for a change in the law to let terminally ill. people kill themselves in the UK.

Mary Ewert spoke out as her husband’s final moments were screened on TV.

Craig, 59, was seen committing assisted suicide at a clinic in Switzerland. He chose to end his life five months after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Mary said the retired university professor was angry at having to travel abroad to die. She said: “He felt very passionately that people who want this option should be able to have it. They shouldn’t have to travel. They shouldn’t have to have a certain amount of money to travel in order to do it.

“They shouldn’t face unfair barriers, like lack of resources to access it.

“The question to ask is, ‘Does the state have a right to force people to live in a state of pain and distress?’

“There seems to be a real thirst among the general public to actually have a discussion about this.”

Yesterday a poll of more than 2,000 people found almost half would like the option of ending their life “when I feel it’s time”. Forty-seven per cent agreed with the statement, 31 per cent disagreed and 20 per cent were uncertain.

In the documentary showing his death, screened on Sky, Craig was seen biting on a timer switch to turn off his breathing apparatus at the Zurich clinic and drinking a barbituratelaced drink to send him to sleep.

Gordon Brown ruled out a change in the law when Craig’s case was raised in Parliament yesterday. The PM said he opposed assisted dying as he believed no one should “feel under pressure” to agree to such an end.

He said: “We should all remember at the heart of any individual case are families and people in difficult circumstances who have to make difficult choices.

“I believe it is necessary to ensure that there is a never a case where a sick or elderly person feels under pressure to agree to an assisted death or somehow feels it is the expected thing to do.”

Mary said Craig, of Harrogate, North Yorks, “was losing mobility rapidly but was actually not tired of living”.

She went on: “Had he been able to have a prescription he knew he could take, that he would be able to swallow at the moment that he wanted to do it, he certainly wouldn’t have travelled.

“The fact is that was not an option. He tried to discuss it with his doctors and no one would discuss it with him.”

Mary, 59, who now lives in Chicago, revealed the dad of two had his doubts about if he would commit suicide. She said: “He felt he couldn’t be certain he could go through with it. He said that right up until the morning we were in the Dignitas apartment.”

Tv regulators were last night reviewing the documentary to see if it breached the Broadcasting Code.

Sky could fined up to £250,000 if watchdog Ofcom rules showing the suicide was not “editorially justified”.

It could also be forced to apologise.

AFTER THAT TV SHOW, THREE VIEWERS ARGUE THEIR POINT OF VIEW

THE DAUGHTER
Sophie Pandit, 44, travelled to Dignitas with her terminally-ill mother Anne Turner, 66, from Bath in 2006 where the retired GP took her life. Brother Edward, 42, and sister Jessica, 40, also came.

That was one of the most moving films I’ve ever watched. It brought back a lot of very vivid memories.

I remember the day my mother told us she had progressive supranuclear palsy. In the same breath she said she planned to kill herself.

My mother was highly independent. She didn’t want to rely on others.

She’d also seen my dad suffer horrifically before he died. The night before we went to a restaurant, cried and told her what a wonderful mother she had been. The next day she was gone.

As we travelled home together we had a sense of elation. We had helped our mother achieve what she wanted. She was no longer suffering. We shed a few tears, but there was a lot of laughter as well.

I don’t regret what we did. And I hope the publicity around our story and Craig Ewert helps push for a change in the law.

My mother was forced to travel to a strange country and perhaps – because she had to be fit enough to make the journey – die before she was truly ready.

That can’t be right.

THE SUFFERER
David Morris, 49, of East London, suffers from spinal muscular atrophy. He’s been in a wheelchair since he was seven and advises London Mayor Boris Johnson on disability issues.

I think this depressing documentary serves as a powerful argument against assisted suicide. What I saw on screen is the death of a man who was very depressed.

What I didn’t see was intervention or anyone talking to Craig about what other options there were for him.

Any of the clips of him being supported to get dressed, washed or shaved could have been of me too because I need daily care from lifting my head from the pillow.

It’s like saying that my life is not of value either, and that frightens me.

The fact that I need support to even wash myself is normal for me. I have developed many skills from facing the barriers placed in my way in terms of attitudes toward me and I love life.

I understand people have a fear of not being in control of their end of life choice. But we need to talk more about what’s available other than assisted suicide in Zurich, because that isn’t the answer.

Mr Ewert’s death was such a stark and undignified procedure. I believe in the right to life more than the right to death.

If Craig was able to discuss other options, he may not have made this decision.

THE MOTHER
Mum-of-one Ashley Morgan, 50, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease five years ago. The video producer and director lives in Farnham, Surrey, with her partner.

It’s always extremely distressing when someone decides to die.

But with Craig Ewert having the same terminal illness as myself, it was particularly close to home.

I watched the film with great unease. I had sympathy with what he was going through, but I worried that he’d acted too hastily because I know there is no way I could consider doing what he did.

I’m too busy trying to make the most of whatever time I have left. Being diagnosed with MND has taught me a lot about life and how to live it. I would never cut it short.

I’m worried about where Craig Ewert was mentally. He said he wasn’t tired of living, but he was tired of the disease.

It seems he hadn’t come to terms with what was happening to him.

I was lucky enough to get excellent counselling specifically for people with life-limiting illnesses. It made the difference between being able to live with it and not.

Of course, I have bad days. I can’t drive any more, have to work from home and can’t go to the gym. But I try not to dwell on the things I’ve lost.

I try to concentrate on the here and now.

My son is 26 and I hope to be a grandmother one day. I focus on the positives.

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