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A mother of four fighting a lengthy Covid ‘death sentence’ that has left her bedridden, unable to care for her children and in constant pain, wants to end her life in Switzerland.
Kelly Louise Smith-May, from Chipping Sodbury in Gloucestershire, is asking for £10,000 to travel to an assisted dying facility ‘to end her suffering’.
The 39-year-old’s condition has gradually deteriorated since she was infected with Covid in December 2021.
Mrs Smith-May’s family, who fully support her heartbreaking choice, said: ‘She did not come to this decision easily.’
According to a heartbreaking GoFundMe post written by a close friend, Mrs. Smith-May can no longer care for her children — Kai, Tawny, Zayn and Jett — “whom she absolutely adores with all her heart.”
Kelly Louise Smith-May, 39, from Chipping Sodbury in Gloucestershire, asks for £10,000 to travel to an assisted dying center ‘to end her suffering’
According to a heartbreaking GoFundMe post written by a close friend, Mrs. Smith-May can no longer care for her children — Kai, Tawny, Zayn and Jett — “whom she absolutely adores with all her heart.”
Mrs Smith-May, a stay-at-home mother, describes her illness as ‘being poisoned every minute of every day’ and a ‘living death sentence’.
She has also become ‘completely dependent’ on her husband Stuart, who has to roll her over in bed.
Mrs Smith-May, a stay-at-home mother, described her own illness as “being poisoned every minute of every day” and a “living death sentence”, according to the fundraising note.
Her family plans to take her by camper via the Eurotunnel to France and then to the Swiss Pegasos clinic.
Ms Smith-May, who described herself as “bubbly”, “loud” and “creative” in an interview with a local newspaper earlier this year about her illness, was struck down with Covid in December 2021.
But unlike the majority of people who shake off cold symptoms within weeks, she continued to suffer.
Long Covid, a poorly understood phenomenon, can leave patients with a persistent cough, fatigue, muscle aches and loss of smell.
While many long-term Covid-10 sufferers eventually have their symptoms go away, some people, like Ms Smith-May, experience it for months or even years.
Some experts believe long Covid-19 is on par with chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) – a controversial condition often overlooked as laziness.
Mrs Smith-May’s family claim her long Covid-19 developed into ME.
Both charities and the NHS hypothesize that viral infections could be a potential trigger for people to develop the condition.
As with long Covid, there is no test that can diagnose myalgic encephalomyelitis and no proven cure. The NHS instead focuses on treating patients’ symptoms to help people manage their condition.
Mild cases are treated with cognitive behavioral therapy and ‘energy management’ – a system that helps patients use their limited energy during the day.
Medications can help patients with pain and insomnia, but devices such as wheelchairs can also increase their mobility.
In the same way, the long Covid treatment also focuses on helping patients alleviate the dozens of symptoms attributed to the condition.
“She spends all day every day in the dark, painfully sensitive to light, sound, smells and movement,” reads a fundraising page for the family.
‘She can no longer sit, stand or walk. She can barely talk. She has severe insomnia and if she can get a few hours of sleep it is not restorative.
‘Due to painful neurological symptoms, she cannot tolerate music, TV or interaction with friends.
“She is unable to care for her four children, whom she absolutely loves with all her heart,” the page reads.
The fundraiser details how Mrs Smith-May’s decision to seek euthanasia abroad was not an easy one, describing the 22 months of suffering she experienced as ‘enough’.
“There is no cure and all possible treatments have failed her,” the page reads.
‘Kelly has seen doctors, been to institutions and tried all the recommended remedies to improve her condition, to no avail.
‘She suffers from constant pain throughout her body that doctors cannot relieve, leaving her with no choice but to end her own suffering.’
The fundraising page, written by an unidentified family friend, asks people to help the family fulfill Mrs Smith-May’s dying wish.
“Your kindness and generosity will give Kelly the gift of freedom from pain with respect for her family, who support her choice and want to honor the woman she is,” it read.
Her condition has gradually worsened since she contracted Covid in December 2021
Mrs Smith-May has become ‘completely dependent’ on her husband Stuart, who has to roll her over in bed
Figures released earlier this year show that there were 1,528 members of Dignitas from Britain at the end of December 2022, according to figures from the non-profit organisation, which supports dying patients with a ‘self-determined end of life’. . This is up from 821 in 2012. Around 33 people from Britain received assisted death with Dignitas in 2022 – an increase from 23 people the year before
The most common symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome is extreme fatigue, but patients may also experience muscle and joint pain, flu-like symptoms, nausea and cognitive problems.
In rare severe cases, people with the condition can no longer use the toilet or feed themselves.
Because both chronic fatigue syndrome and long Covid-19 are poorly understood conditions, the relationship between the two is uncertain.
Medically assisted dying, or euthanasia, is illegal in Britain and can be prosecuted as manslaughter or murder, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Helping someone commit suicide, also known as assisted suicide, is also a crime and punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Campaigners have been urging ministers for decades to reconsider the assisted dying law, saying they want Britain to join Australia and New Zealand in making it legal.
Earlier this year, MPs were told that terminally ill Britons would have to choose between ‘suicide, Switzerland or suffering’ and that future generations would be ‘shocked’ by the current legislation.
British charities currently estimate that every eight days a Briton travels abroad for assisted death.
They have repeatedly warned that Britons, unable to afford the many thousands of pounds it can cost to go abroad for medically assisted dying, are committing suicide at home.
This, they add, can lead to people experiencing pain and suffering when they die, compared to a painless, medically assisted death.
But many religious groups oppose a change in the law, claiming it would undermine the value society places on human life.
Over the past thirteen years, two hundred cases of assisted death or assisted suicide have been referred by police to the Crown Prosecution Service, with four successful prosecutions.
Figures released earlier this year by Dignitas – the non-profit organization that helps patients with ‘self-determined end of life’ – showed that there were 1,528 members from Britain at the end of 2022.
This is up from 821 in 2012.
Around 33 people from Britain received assisted death from Dignitas in 2022 – an increase from 23 people the year before.