A Short Stay in Switzerland Page #4

Can we meet them in London?

No. Not allowed to by law.

Mother needs to write a letter,

why she wants the arrangements,

depending on how unbearable...

how... unbearable...

how unbearable...

She's not really going

to do this, is she?

I've now passed through

stages one and two

of progressive supra-nuclear palsy.

The third stage has well begun.

I have difficulty eating,

I cough and choke, I cannot read

or watch the news or television.

My past career as a doctor

is now a dream.

I can barely support

myself on my two legs.

I suffer from complete loss of

power.

Can you make out what I'm saying?

Yes, I can, Mother.

Complete loss of power in my arms,

my bladder,

my whole body.

I soon won't be able

to close my mouth.

I need help dressing.

I need help living.

And if I don't take this path

that your organisation offers me,

I will soon be unable to

physically say enough.

Enough, please, enough.

It's all right, Mother.

No, it isn't, Sophie!

I can't even talk to

these people in my own country.

What kind of ludicrous law

would turn us into criminals?

They want to jail the dying,

why don't they turn the Houses of

Parliament into a prison,

and leave us all there to rot,

powerless and helpless, if

that's how they want to keep us?

I also suffer from

increased impatience

and am extremely irritable,

as my family will tell you.

My excuse is my symptoms.

They might say otherwise.

Well, now we have that

in writing, Mother.

And now guess how I'm

really going to annoy you.

You know who you agreed

to play chess with tonight?

Oh, Clare.

I can't play chess any more.

She's insisting.

That woman is a ferret!

Are you letting me win?

That is the easiest game

of chess we've ever played.

You know me better than that.

I hate losing.

Oh, the world's worst, that's true.

I never give in.

You're cut from the

same cloth, aren't you?

I'm well aware you've got

a hard fight ahead of you.

Getting through this

bugger of an illness.

You're going to need your wits

about you to stay on top of it

and there's no better

woman to cope with that.

Are you paying me a compliment?

Why?

Perhaps it's because you're a

friend I revere.

Well, for the first

time in your life,

you have shocked me into silence.

I do worry about you

and I worry about the children

and it's not the disease

that bothers me most, it's

what you might do about it.

Something silly,

something

that can't be undone

and that will damage others even more

than you.

You know everything,

don't you, Clare?

Richard didn't need to tell. I

had to look into Jessica's face.

Have you any idea

what your children are suffering?

You can tell me to mind

my own business

but, please, Anne,

never try that again.

I'm asking you that

and I ask you something else as well,

which I'm nervous to even suggest.

May I pray for you?

Of course, yes,

if it helps you.

I want it to help YOU.

You do, I'm sure, and if it does,

I'll be the first to let you know

but we each have our

own way of doing things.

We will, as ever,

beg to differ and respect that.

I am not going to lie to you, Clare.

I know you've tried it once but

if you're going to tell me why

you choose suicide, don't.

I don't think I could cope with that,

Anne. I don't need you to explain.

Right you are, but I

do want to explain.

I think people will

want to know why.

It might be my way of

explaining to myself.

I'm actually thinking of

approaching the TV news people.

You'd go on television?

Have you taken leave of your senses?

You're going to show off

on television?

Showing off? In this condition?

Anne, this is all wrong.

This is selfish and typical.

You've always been a spoilt woman.

Jack spoilt you,

your children spoilt you,

everyone running around at your

command. Well, this is going too far.

This is seriously what you intend?

You think it's clever?

It's cruel. It's cruel and stupid,

stupid and thoughtless and don't you

dare try to convince me otherwise!

Clare, you don't know

and you forget what Jack suffered.

No, you're forgetting what more

people than you suffer

and they have the courage to face it

without putting their children

through what you're putting yours

through.

Do you know what I think you are?

I think you're a coward.

And Jack would agree with me.

You've gone far enough.

Well, I'll go one step further.

I think you planned this suicide from

the first minute you heard.

Moving house and putting your

children's concerns above yours

and letting them look after you.

It's all an act, my girl,

fooling everybody but not

fooling me, not any longer.

You knew all along what you

were going to do and you lied.

You're a coward

beyond doubt, also a liar.

Because the likes of you

can't take the truth.

You would know the truth any longer.

You're the liar.

The liar is looking at me.

You believe what you like, Clare,

but it is not what I believe

and that's what frightens you.

I am willing to stand alone.

You have never done so. I do so now.

Well, then I leave you there.

I will never see you again.

No, you won't,

and I'm not afraid of that.

YOU are afraid, Clare.

I am not.

I'm not afraid!

DOOR SLAMS:

Courage.

If a doctor was to help you die

here in Britain, it would be a crime.

Then the law...

The law must be changed.

A terminally ill person should

be able to die if they so choose,

before their lives

become unbearable.

Or at least know

they have that option.

So it's true is it, that of those who

are approved for this procedure,

Iess than a third actually see it

through?

Yes,

people just like

to know it's an option.

It relieves them of their suffering.

And to me, as a doctor,

that is a fundamental

duty of medicine.

And what would you say to those who

fear that a change in the law

would undermine

the trust between doctor and patient?

It sets us on a slippery slope.

Well, people will say that,

but in countries

where the law has changed,

there is not a shred of evidence

to support that view.

None at all.

Some people watching this interview,

Anne, might argue that you are in

sufficiently good health

to stop you committing suicide.

Well, I might look like

I'm all right, but I'm not.

I've been through

their rigorous procedures.

They know

and I know what is happening.

The symptoms are getting worse

and if I don't go soon,

the time will come when I will not

be able to travel,

when I will not be able to get the

medical assistance I need to die.

So you're saying that you've

made your choice? I have.

That is my right

and that is at the root

of all I believe in.

Doctor Turner, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Is he finished?

You will respect my wishes?

We'll show nothing until... I'm dead.

I think that's the word you're

looking for.

One, two, three.

Oh, they actually worked!

Oh, look at that

lovely, gorgeous gem.

Oh, Mum, that's beautiful.

Let's hear the riddle then. What's

black and white and red all over?

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