by A clinic in Switzerland that helps hundreds of people die every year has apologized to the mother of a British man who took his own life without the knowledge of his family. Following an investigation by ITV News, Pegasos said it would change its procedures to ensure relatives were always informed in future.
Alastair Hamilton, 47, told his mother he was flying to Paris last August, but instead traveled to Basel, where he took a fatal dose of drugs. As Judith Hamilton, 82, from Hampton in West London, drove him to the airport, she said to her son “put his arms around me, I looked him straight in the eyes, smiling and he said ‘You are loved, mother, you are loved enough, always will be, no matter what'”.
The chemistry teacher lost a lot of weight and complained of stomach problems in the months before his death, but he had not diagnosed the disease. His family supported him as he sought medical help and had no idea that he was actually traveling to Switzerland to end his life.
When he failed to return to the UK and stopped answering his phone, his mother reported him missing. Bank records eventually revealed he paid £11,000 to Pegasos to access what is known as ‘voluntary assisted dying’ in Switzerland.
ITV News traveled with his family to trace his final journey and to meet the clinic that accepted his online application form, which the news organization said they had seen. Limited to 300-word responses, Alastair told them his undiagnosed condition had caused “pain, fatigue and discomfort” which “put my life at risk”.
However, he admitted that “there is currently no definitive medical explanation” for his illness and that his family did not know he was planning to take his own life. Despite this, Pegasos accepted his request and within a few days of his arrival in Switzerland he was assisted to die.
ITV News managed to trace his final journey to an industrial estate on the outskirts of Basel, where Alastair is believed to have died in an office block next to an asphalt factory. At the request of his mother and brother Bradley, ITV News took them to see the building, where they were overcome with grief.
“Not the best place to be for your ultimate world view. It’s more heartbreaking that someone could be with him, but they didn’t tell us and it didn’t feel that way [he could],” Bradley said.
Breaking down in tears, his mother said: “I kept saying to myself ‘Oh Alastair’.”
After Alexander’s death, his brothers emailed Pegasos several times, but were left waiting for a response. Eventually, with the involvement of the police and the British embassy, the clinic responded, confirming Alastair’s death and returning his ashes to his family by post.
ITV News insisted a Pegasos representative meet Judith and Bradley in Switzerland to answer their questions. At an unnamed office in the center of Basel, the group was greeted by Sean Davison, who spoke to Alastair several times before he died.
Mr. Davison does not work for Pegasos, but for a separate organization called Exit International, which advocates the right to assisted dying. He was the last person Alastair called from his deathbed. Asked by ITV News if he could have tried to stop him, Mr Davison insisted he had tried to convince Alastair to take his own life.
“He said he told [his family], but they didn’t want to talk about it,” Mr. Davison said. “He said they didn’t support him. I didn’t know they weren’t coming to the end. I had nothing to do with him, I was just his friend.
“He even called me from his deathbed and said ‘Shaun I’m so thankful I had a friend to talk to.’ I tried [to dissuade him] every time I talked to him. I said ‘you’re a handsome man, you’ve got such a life ahead of you’. I really pleaded with him, I would never encourage anyone to end their life.”
After the interview with Mr Davison, the ITV team were then asked to leave before a Pegasos representative entered the room to speak to the Hamilton family. During the meeting, the family said the representative apologized for failings in the handling of Alistair’s case.
Under Swiss law, anyone can be assisted to take their own life as long as the person assisting them is not motivated by selfishness. But the most famous clinic – Dignitas – requires people to have a terminal illness, ‘unsustainable disability’ or ‘unbearable pain’ to qualify for its assistance.
The representative from Pegasos told the Hamilton family that their procedures would now be brought closer to the guidelines set by the Swiss Medical Association in 2022, which say that a family should always be informed if it intention of a relative to die. However, they also made it clear that Pegasos do not believe in many of the guidelines, which also state that life should be unbearable before a person is assisted in dying.
After the meeting, Judith and Bradley said they were happy that Pegasos planned to tighten their procedures, but still believed that Alastair should not be allowed to die without them knowing.
“I stole the chance to go over there and cuddle him while he was doing it, giving him a kiss goodbye because Pegasos didn’t have these checks and balances in place,” Bradley said.
Judith added: “We weren’t given that chance to be with him or in my case, drag him home, tooth and nail if I had to.”
In response to the ITV investigation, Pegasos said: “As expressed during the meeting, we would like to reiterate to the family that we are very sorry that our communications caused them further distress last year. We were not sure how to deal with the situation. from a communication and legal point of view and therefore it did not act as we would today. We hope that our meeting helped them to better understand Alastair’s decision and path.
“Pegasos has always respected the applicable Swiss law without exception and continues to do so … we always need reports from medical specialists. A decision can only be made based on these reports, on other documents and on direct contact with the person concerned.
“We are aware of the great responsibility we have. That is why, in those rare cases where we have reason to believe that the person seeking voluntary assisted dying has not provided any information to the family to close, we will end the on-site procedure.
“In 2022, the Swiss Medical Association revised its guidelines on assisted dying. It is important to understand that these guidelines are not legally binding on the associations, but are policies for the medical professionals.
“Several organizations for assisted dying, including Exit, Dignitas and Pegasos, have spoken publicly against the revised guidelines, as they are putting the self-determination of those planning assisted voluntary death and the freedom of choice in the Switzerland in danger.”
