'They won't watch me dying at home' Vicky Phelan doesn't want her children's memories tainted by pain
Claire Hyland
Since being diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014 mum of two Vicky Phelan has had a ticking time bomb hanging over her head.
While she has been fighting the illness like a warrior and is hopeful about the treatment she is undergoing in the US, it is likely that her cancer will lead to her premature death
'The thing is, I've seen people die of this cancer and it's not pretty,' says Vicky Phelan speaking to the Irish Daily Mail. 'It's something I've worried about a lot.
'That when I get to that end stage. I'll be suffering and I won't have any control over my life the way that I've had control over my life so far.'
Vicky Phelan and Lorraine Walsh at the launch of '221+ CervicalCheck Patient Support Group' 11/10/2018 Photograph: ©Fran Veale
That is why she is throwing her influence by the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020.
'Unfortunately with particular cancers, there are times when they cannot get on top of all the pain. Palliative care is fantastic when it works, but when it doesn't there is a certain amount of pain at the end.'
Vicky is adamant that she wants to live, but is realistic about reaching a stage where the drugs will stop working and dreads the thought of her family seeing her in pain.
'I don't think that's fair on the patient or the patient's family to have to watch them suffer like that. I have relatively young children, I don't want them to have to watch me dying like that and lingering,' she continues.
Donal Buggy, Vicky Phelan and Lorraine Walsh at the launch of 221+ Cervical Check Patient Support Group at Farmleigh House in Dublin. Pic: PA Images
Vicky is aware that her stance on the issues isn't what everyone in her position would want but she is pleading for the option to be made available to those that do.
'All I'm asking is that people would be given a choice; not that everybody would do it but that people would have the choice to decide for themselves whether or not this is something they want to do,' she says.
Next month the Dying With Dignity Bill will be up for consideration before the Dáil, and Vicky has announced her plans to speak on the day. Achieving the right to die has always been a controversial issue but the mood may be changing.
The report cites an MRBI/Irish Times poll where 52 per cent of those agreed it should be legal. There has also been support from some GPs. Those against the bill and those on the fence including the Irish Hospice Foundation Chief Executive, Sharon Foley have stated that the debate 'feels rushed.'
Vicky Phelan. pic: File
To those people, Vicky says: 'Unfortunately, and I have seen it with my own eyes, cervical cancer is particularly nasty at the end. I have seen where women have not died with dignity because there is a certain level of pain that no hospice or palliative care consultant can get on top of.'
When the sad time comes Vicky has stoically chosen to die in care. 'I don't want to die at home, not with my children. I don't want them to have memories of their mother dying there,' she says.
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