Mercy-killing man takes plea to end wife's suffering to the Queen
THE ex-Hucknall man who is pleading for permission to kill his wife to end her suffering is to send this photo of her to the Queen.
Maureen Starr (63) has Alzheimer's Disease and can no longer recognise her husband, Bill.
As exclusively revealed in last week's Dispatch, Bill (76) wants to end Maureen's life and is campaigning for a change in the law to allow voluntary euthanasia.
He said this week: "I want the Queen to see how a failure by her government to act has left my girl having to live on in a truly pitiful condition.
"This photo expresses my feelings more than I could in a thousand words. It is the face of suffering."
Bill has previously written to Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Lord Chancellor's Office and even Prince Charles to press his case.
Maureen has been a resident of Lowmoor Nursing Home at Kirkby-in-Ashfield for the last 18 months.
During that time, Bill, who used to live on Curtis Street in Hucknall and is an ex-Newstead Colliery miner, visited her every day.
But last week, the Dispatch reported on a heartrending visit by Bill to the home with the aim of ending Maureen's life by mercy killing.
"I don't want to say how I planned to do it," said Bill. "But I took two changes of clothes because I was prepared for the police to come and arrest me.
"However a nurse told me my wife's brain is dying. That changed everything because she is now in the hands of God."
Bill stressed that he felt no bitterness towards the home for banning him from seeing his wife alone in case he might still try to kill her.
But he is planning a heartfelt appeal to all the country's general medical practices.
He wants them to withhold sending Alzheimer's patients to homes for the elderly mentally ill until two guarantees are put in place.
One is for the option of voluntary euthanasia and the other is one-to-one care to protect patients from "dangers seen and unseen".
A spokeswoman for the Mansfield and Ashfield branch of the Alzheimer's Society said she could not comment on the rights or wrongs of euthanasia.
"That is a personal thing and a highly controversial issue," she said.
But she added that the society existed to provide support for people with dementia and their carers, offering whatever help they could.
Although the branch does not have a base in Hucknall, its role is filled to a large extent by the Carers In Hucknall group, which meets at Under One Roof in Vine Terrace.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Hucknall
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
