LONDON, UK — A British widow under police investigation for helping her terminally ill husband end his life at a Swiss assisted-dying clinic has publicly defended her actions, saying she has “no regrets” and is now campaigning for legislative change.
Louise Shackleton, whose husband Anthony died at Dignitas in Zurich in December, spoke to Sky News in her first public interview as the assisted dying debate returns to the floor of the UK Parliament.
The bill, which would legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live, has seen its next vote delayed by three weeks to allow MPs to consider amendments.
“I have committed a crime, which I have admitted to, of assisting him by simply pushing him on to a plane and being with him, which I don’t regret for one moment,” Mrs Shackleton said.
“He was my husband and I loved him.”
A Long Goodbye
Anthony Shackleton, 59, had lived with motor neurone disease for six years.
According to his wife, the couple spent more than two years discussing his end-of-life options.
“What he wanted was nothing more than a good death,” she said.
She described how the prospect of being completely paralysed, unable to move or communicate, deeply distressed her husband.
“He said to me on many occasions, ‘Look at my options. I could go there and die peacefully, with grace, without pain, or be laid in a bed not even able to look at anything unless you move my head.’”
The decision, Mrs Shackleton said, brought her husband visible peace.
“We had the most wonderful four days. He was laughing. He was at total peace with his decision.”
Ongoing Police Investigation
Upon her return to the UK, Mrs Shackleton surrendered herself to North Yorkshire Police, who confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.
“There is nothing further to add at this stage,” a police spokesman told Sky News.
Although assisting a suicide is illegal under British law and punishable by up to 14 years in prison, prosecutions have been rare, particularly in high-profile or compassionate cases.
The legal grey area has placed families in painful limbo for years.
“This Is About Choice”
Speaking with emotion, Mrs Shackleton said she promised her husband before his death that she would share his story.
“I felt that my husband’s journey shouldn’t be in vain… He told me to fight and the simple thing that I’m fighting for is people to have the choice.”
“This is about a dying person’s choice — to either follow their journey through with disease or to die peacefully when they want to, on their terms.”
Anthony Shackleton was known internationally for his craftsmanship as a furniture restorer, particularly for creating traditional rocking horses.
“I think the measure of the man is that nobody has ever said a bad word about him,” his wife said.
“He was just so caring and giving.”
A Broken System?
Mrs Shackleton also described the emotional toll of travelling abroad for the assisted suicide, saying the most difficult moment came after her husband’s death, when she was forced to leave him behind.
“There was this panic and this fear that I was leaving him. That was a horrific experience,” she said.
“If the law had changed in this country, I would have been with family… but as it was, that couldn’t happen.”
Opposition and Safeguards
Opponents of the assisted dying legislation have raised concerns about the potential for abuse, coercion, and shifting societal attitudes towards the elderly, disabled, and terminally ill.
Many argue that improving access to palliative care should take priority.
Mrs Shackleton acknowledged those concerns. “I think that we need to safeguard people,” she said.
“Sometimes we need to suffer other people’s choices… even if we’re not comfortable with them, we need to respect them.”
As Parliament prepares for its next vote on the Assisted Dying Bill, Mrs Shackleton’s voice joins a growing number of campaigners seeking legal reform that allows terminally ill people in Britain to die on their own terms — without leaving the country or placing loved ones in legal jeopardy.
