Nathaniel Dye, is a primary school teacher with stage 4 bowel cancer. Doctors have given him an official terminal diagnosis of under a year.
Nathanial who lives in east London, told The i Paper: “It is a little bittersweet because the implementation period could be around four years so I may well not be able to access it myself even if it becomes law.
The Terminally Ill Adults Bill, which will give terminally ill adults in England and Wales the right to end their own lives, was backed by 314 votes to 291 in the Commons and will now go to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
The vote followed an emotionally charged debate which saw MPs recount personal stories involving friends and relatives.
Nathaniel Dye knows the assisted dying law will probably be too late for him as he has been given the prognosis of less than a year
Nathaniel added: “My personal feelings are that I may or may not want to access assisted dying when the time comes and things get worse, but I want that option there as a choice and for me, assisted dying would be my safety net.
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“However, it is not about me – it is about kindness and compassion for dying people and that is more important than one person.
In the Lords, it is thought peers may delay the bill.
Mr Dye, whose stage 4 bowel cancer has spread to his liver, lungs and brain, has stayed determined and positive despite his diagnosis.
Although he is signed off from his main teaching job due to his deteriorating health and retirement is looming, he is still teaching music with light duties when he feels up to it and runs a youth band and is involved with a community brass band.
Nathaniel Dye making his 100 mile running comeback fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support
“In terms of my spirit, I refuse to get beaten down and if you tell me I have got one year left, I’ll try to give you two,” said Nathaniel. “That is my intent – but I am also a realist.
“Assisted dying is not about shortening life. It is about shortening certain death when life has gone. That is very different.
“Humbly, I would like the choice to ask if we could literally call it a day because there is nothing left.
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Nathaniel was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer at the age of 36. He shared his cancer story at the Labour manifesto launch as he recounted how he waited more than 100 days for cancer treatment when the Government target was 62 days. He believes there is a chance his cancer may not have advanced and become widespread if he had received treatment sooner.
He told The i Paper the trauma of watching her life slip away will never leave him and that the last thing she had open on her laptop before she died was a wedding planning spreadsheet as she still believed she would get out of hospital.
“Some opponents to the assisted dying bill say it should not be available because ‘what about the vulnerable people?’”, he said. “Well one of the things that has made me vulnerable personally is the kind of suffering I might expect at the end of life.
Nathaniel Dye with MP Kim Leadbetter on the day of the historic assisted dying bill vote in the Common“My condition is deteriorating and I am under palliative care, receiving daily morphine, taking tablets twice a day and spending a lot more time in the house and in bed.
“Assisted dying is about kindness and compassion to dying people and I am surprised that is controversial.”
“But it is definitely a huge step of many steps that will eventually produce choice and compassion at the end of life for dying people like me.
While the law was passed and will progress to the House of Lords, ahead of the vote there was concern over the limited scrutiny for the bill, whether the legislation could be expanded to include undesirable consequences, fears over safeguards and diverting resources from palliative care.
She said: “We’ve been told it’s the strongest Bill in the world, but to be honest, it’s not very high bar for other legislation.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists also has concerns relating to risk factors for suicide, the Mental Capacity Act, and workforce shortages.
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