Maureen Slough, 58, traveled alone to Switzerland to end her life. Her family is now looking for answers as to how she was able to move forward with assisted suicide without their knowledge.

A daughter is opening up about the chilling way she learned that her mother traveled to Switzerland to end her life without their family’s knowledge.

On July 8, Maureen Slough — a 58-year-old from Cavan, Ireland — told her family she was going on vacation to Lithuania with a friend. However, she confided in two friends that she was actually traveling alone to Switzerland.

The following day, her daughter Megan Royal was contacted by one of her mother’s friends with concerns about her real plans.

“A close friend of hers messaged me on the Wednesday night, possibly at like 10 p.m. I was in bed with the baby,” Royal, a mom of two, recalled to the Irish Independent. “He just replied like, ‘Your mom’s in Switzerland.’ He’s like, ‘You have a right to know. I was sworn to secrecy. She’s there and she wants assisted suicide.’ I was so scared in that moment.”

Royal said she immediately called her dad, who tried to contact her mother in Switzerland. She said Slough ultimately promised that she would return home. However, the following day around 1 p.m. she received a text message on WhatsApp informing her that her mother had died.

“What was worse was not only did I get the text on WhatsApp, they had advised me that her ashes would be posted to me in 6-8 weeks,” she said. “In that very moment, because I was alone, I just sat there with the baby and cried… I just felt like my world ended.”

Royal explained that the text message came from Pegasos, an assisted dying nonprofit organization in Liestal, Switzerland. She learned that Slough had quietly filed an application and paid £15,000 to end her life.

Assisted suicide has been legal in Switzerland since 1942, according to Dignity in Dying, a British organization. ​​It’s different from euthanasia — which is illegal — because the patients themselves administer prescribed drugs to end their lives, rather than a doctor.

Following Slough’s death, her family is now looking for answers as to how the assisted suicide happened without their knowledge.

Royal described her mother as a “fiery, smart and dedicated woman.” However, she told the outlet that Slough had a long history of mental illness and even had a past suicide attempt while struggling to cope with the deaths of her two younger sisters.

    • LovstuhagenOPMEnglish
      41·
      23 days ago

      Sure… But I think it’s worth reflecting on what this means for everyone involved.

      • baines@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        6·
        23 days ago

        why?

        I get her family wants closure but maybe ask themselves why she felt she couldn’t come to them.

        They’re not owned anything by anyone else.

        • LovstuhagenOPMEnglish
          4·
          23 days ago

          I agree with you - it is objectively true that she is an adult and she can make this decision. But let me also say… (and this is long, bear with me…) I also want to say this does not have to be so political, but rather, an observation about how I think it is right to leave people behind…

          I think people owe those closest to them with explanations and disclosure of their intentions that will profoundly impact those around them. No, they don’t owe ME or the PUBLIC, not at all. It is also not a discussion I should ever be a part of - this person is a stranger, right, it’s none of my business…

          But putting myself into the shoes of the family members, I feel like it was morally wrong for her to not disclose her intentions and be honest with her family… And hten to give them the false hope she was coming home, only to end her life. Now, of course, she has this right, but I have friends whose fathers abandoned them… I dated a woman who had only spoken to her father once in her life and didn’t know it was him at the time - he called her mother to discuss a child support payment, and when she picked up he said, “Oh, is this ____? OK, is your mother there…?”

          She was a strong, beautiful, wonderful woman, and yet it’simpossible to deny that her behavior was deeply impacted by growing up without a father who even cared to have ac conversation with her, right…

          So, even if it is legal… It is not moral.

          It is legal for a landlord to kick out a single mother after a certain amount of unpaid payments, but it is not moral.

          And I am not going to say that this very unwell woman who was suffering mentally is evil or even say she is BAD for doing this. She must’ve been going through hell… But, this was very bad for those important people she left in the lurch.

          When my friend’s father was dying of cancer, he bought me lunch and we had a beautiful conversation, and I had not been to my hometown for years, and th eman said to me… “This might be the last time, you know, I have cancer,” and I said something like, “Oh no, you will make it, don’t say that, it’s going to be OK…” But he smiled the fox’s smile and he said, “Well, it could be the last time, so I just want to say I love you and your friendship with my son, and it has been wonderful if we don’t meet again…”

          And he did die. But he took the time to say that… I wonder how much he knew he would die… He lived for a year after this… But it stays with you. IDK.

          • baines@lemmy.cafeEnglish
            4·
            22 days ago

            I agree assuming they had a normal relationship. I think it is beautiful in a shitty situation to provide closure like that man did.

            I’d like to think I’d be supportive if my partner came to me about something like assisted suicide

            I wonder if her family was majorly religious

        • Fredselfish@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          23 days ago

          Well I thought this was only for terminal ill people. Are you saying just anyone who pays them can kill themselves? That also sounds fucked up that cost that goddamn much. Almost predatory.

          • baines@lemmy.cafeEnglish
            2·
            22 days ago

            yes I’m saying that

            no I don’t think it is predatory assuming proper oversight

            if it were provided by HMSA and had a profit anglenit probably would be

              • baines@lemmy.cafeEnglish
                2·
                22 days ago

                maybe, my first thought is it is expensive but I’m not sure what it should be

                everything medical is overpriced as shit in America so looking at uninsured prices for stuff isn’t really helpful

          • ChucklestheclownEnglish
            21·
            22 days ago

            Switzerland has a section about mental health as well. If someone is basically miserable, they can terminate as well. While it sounds horrible, I understand. I don’t have a mental health issue. I am pretty damn mentally healthy. That said, I have friends who battled mental health issues and sometimes their life is a living hell.

              • ChucklestheclownEnglish
                11·
                22 days ago

                If they want to kill themselves, why not? It’s their choice. We need to stop being a nanny state. Each person should be able to choose their own path. The woman had been through therapy before and still wanted to be dead. That is her choice.