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Wendy Mitchell, the author, passed away after a long struggle with dementia. Before her death, she shared a final message announcing her passing.
At the age of 68, Mitchell found success as an author after being diagnosed with early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s in July 2014. At the time, he was working as a rota manager in the National Health Service.
In a posthumous online post, the writer disclosed her choice to stop consuming food and liquids.
She stated: “If you are reading this, it is likely that my daughters have posted it as I have passed away.”
Mitchell stated that their death was a result of their choice to cease eating and drinking. They described their last cup of tea as a final embrace in a mug, which was more difficult to give up than the food they never desired. This decision was not made out of self-pity, as further details will reveal.
“Dementia is a cruel disease that plays tricks on your very existence. I’ve always been a glass half full person, trying to turn the negatives of life around and creating positives, because that’s how I cope. Well I suppose dementia was the ultimate challenge.
While dementia can be difficult, I have found joy in playing games with this opponent to stay ahead.
Mitchell resided in Walkington, East Yorkshire, and wrote the highly praised 2018 autobiography Somebody I Used To Know. Four years later, she published What I Wish I Knew About Dementia. Her third book, One Last Thing: Living With The End In Mind, will be released in paperback next week.
Unfortunately, euthanasia is not available in this country. It is astonishing how little importance is placed on the process of dying, which impacts every member of the population regardless of their financial status, intelligence, or ethnicity.
If you have read my book, One Last Thing, you will know why I am passionate about assisted dying. The only decision that should not be legal in our lives is when we are born. For everything else, we, as humans, should have the power to choose how we live and how we die.
Mitchell stated that she did not desire for her dementia to progress to the later stages where she would have to depend on others for her basic necessities. She expressed, “The Wendy that I know does not want to become the Wendy that dementia will control.”
She stated: “I did not experience depression and I was not pressured or convinced in any manner. It was solely my decision. I was prepared. You may or may not approve of my actions, the timing of my departure from this world, but the choice was entirely mine.”
Anna Wharton, who was a ghostwriter on Mitchell’s bestselling memoir, described the letter as “the last powerful words from my friend Wendy Mitchell.
Ms. Wharton expressed her deep sadness at losing her loved one, but also shared her immense pride in all of her accomplishments and for making the decision to pass away on her own terms. Despite her fear of dementia, Wendy was able to overcome it and Ms. Wharton is grateful for that.
Charities including Alzheimer Scotland and the Lewy Body Society were among those to pay tribute to the “fearless” campaigner, while former Guardian journalist David Brindle hailed her for making “such a huge contribution to the greater understanding and social acceptance of dementia”.
Source: independent.co.uk
