After her terminally ill dad from Radlett died by suicide, a Watford woman is calling for assisted dying to be legalised in the UK.

Sarah Crampton watched her father Mark suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease until he took his life in 2020, aged 62, after sharing his wishes to have an assisted death.

She said he died with a “poor quality of life” as he was on “so much medication for his COPD, as well as painkillers, sleeping pills and relaxants for his sciatica, that he could have opened a pharmacy”.

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Mr Crampton was an ex-police inspector from Radlett and wanted a death which was “quick and painless” as he did not want his family to find him.

Sarah, 35, who lives in Leavesden after growing up in Garston, said: "My dad's death was very traumatic for me, he was my rock and only family member.

"He died alone and I feel so sad for him that he ended his life that way as he was a very proud man, but by the end of his life his body had spent six months shutting down."

She believes that if her father was given the choice of assisted dying, he would have taken it.

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She is appealing to MPs to change the law and help terminally ill, mentally competent adults, like her father, have a better death.

According to Dignity in Dying, the charity calling for assisted suicide in the UK, up to 650 dying people in the UK take their own lives every year.

She added: "He would be so proud of everything I am doing to voice the option for assisted dying in the UK. He shared with me that he would have used the option if it was available in the UK. Instead, he had to die alone in a horrendous way." 

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Sarah found his death "really difficult and traumatic" which has left her with PTSD, as it happened during the 2020 Covid lockdown, so she couldn't visit as he was extremely vulnerable. 

She visited a week before he died and said "he looked grey" and "could see that he was dying".

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Many people travel to Switzerland, where the process is currently legal, but can cost an average of £10,00 for UK residents.

Assisted suicide is currently illegal in the UK under the Suicide Act 1961 and is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Nearly 8 in 10 people agree it should be legal, according to charity Dignity Dying.

Suicide charity Samaritans can be contacted via its website or by calling 116 123 24/7 365 days a year.