‘One in a million’ mother’s heartbreaking final wish before assisted death

A “one in a million” mum who chose to end her life at a Swiss clinic rather than endure the torture of motor neurone disease left her family with one final, heartbreaking request before she died. Gaynor Griffiths, 63, travelled to the Pegasos clinic in April with her husband Gary, 64, and their children Ami and Alex by her side.

As her loved ones whispered how much they loved her, Gaynor told them: “Please carry on this fight for me. Try and get them to change their minds. We can try and make a difference.” The family are now speaking out for the first time to honour that wish, ahead of the second reading of the Terminally Ill (End of Life) bill in September.

Gaynor supported the proposed law that would give terminally ill adults with less than six months to live the choice to end their lives, reported The Mirror. MPs backed it in 2025, but more than 1,000 amendments in the House of Lords delayed it until time ran out in April. Just days earlier, Gaynor had already flown abroad.

She left a letter for her family, asking them not to open it until after her death. In the letter, Gaynor stressed the decision was hers alone, protecting them from any legal issues back home.

Gaynor wrote: “Dad and I have been married for 42 years, we love each other very much… We’ve been blessed to have you two wonderful kids… and now Rory.”

She spoke of the good health, homes and holidays she had enjoyed, adding that MND was “torture” and she could not bear becoming “a mind living in a dead body.”

Before leaving their Kent home, Gaynor hugged her three-year-old grandson Rory and told him: “I love you to the moon and back” — their special phrase. Daughter Ami said: “The goodbye was awful.” She added that UK laws forced her mum to die abroad instead of in the environment she loved.

Diagnosed last October after developing foot drop, Gaynor’s condition worsened rapidly. By December she was in a wheelchair; by March her arms and breathing were failing.

After a hospital stay with pneumonia she told her family she wished she had not survived the night.

At the clinic on April 18 the family spent final moments together. Gaynor pulled the cord herself. Son Alex, an NHS emergency medical technician, described her death as peaceful and said: “I am incredibly proud of her.” Ami still talks to “Nanny star” with Rory every night, ending with the same words: “We love you to the moon and back.”