Cancer Survivor Warns Assisted Dying Could Put Vulnerable Patients at Risk

Karen O’Malley, a 61-year-old former NHS nurse from Kirkcaldy, Scotland, has warned that England and Wales’ proposed assisted dying legislation could place vulnerable terminally ill patients at risk after she survived an advanced cancer diagnosis that doctors once expected to be fatal within months.

Mrs O’Malley was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer in late 2015, shortly before her 54th birthday, and was initially told she could have only six to nine months to live. The prognosis left her deeply depressed and, without telling her husband or adult children, she began considering ways to end her life. More than a decade later, she remains alive and receiving treatment, with no evidence of cancer progression or recurrence.

Her experience has led her to question whether a patient in the depths of despair can always be expected to make a settled decision about ending their life.

Mrs O’Malley’s illness began with persistent stomach pain. Investigations eventually revealed colon cancer that had spread to her liver and peritoneum, the membrane lining the abdominal cavity.

Doctors stopped her chemotherapy after determining that the cancer was inoperable and told her there was little more they could do. She recalled believing the prognosis without question because it had come from a consultant oncologist.

The news had a profound psychological effect. Mrs O’Malley said she struggled to get out of bed and concealed the extent of her distress from her family.

She also began thinking about suicide. She had access to opioid medication and considered taking a large quantity if her condition deteriorated. She researched Dignitas, the Swiss organisation associated with assisted suicide, but decided against pursuing it after discovering the considerable cost involved.

She also began preparing for what she believed would be her imminent death, clearing out personal belongings and writing down plans for her funeral.

Daily Dazzling Dawn understands that her experience forms the basis of her opposition to the assisted dying proposals now before Parliament.

A significant change came in 2016 when Mrs O’Malley’s daughter-in-law became pregnant. Although she outwardly celebrated the news, she privately believed she would not live long enough to see her grandchild.

Friends eventually persuaded her to seek help for her mental health and obtain another medical opinion. That decision led her to investigate treatment options outside the NHS through her family’s private health insurance.

Specialist assessments in England found that her tumours appeared to be shrinking. In 2017, she underwent an eight-hour operation during which surgeons removed her kidney, bladder, uterus, ovaries and part of her peritoneum.

Five months later, follow-up scans showed no evidence of cancer.

For Mrs O’Malley, the transformation was dramatic. She had gone from planning her funeral to rebuilding her life and becoming a grandmother.

She later experienced another extraordinary family moment when she helped deliver her second grandchild at home in a bath during the early hours of the morning. Having previously worked as a midwife, she described the experience as something that came naturally to her.

The warning comes as MPs prepare to vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would establish a legal framework allowing eligible adults in England and Wales with a prognosis of less than six months to request medical assistance to end their lives.

The legislation was introduced by Labour MP Lauren Edwards for Rochester and Strood in June, following the loss of parliamentary time by an earlier assisted dying bill introduced by Kim Leadbeater.

The previous legislation passed its third reading in the House of Commons by 314 votes to 291 before entering the House of Lords, where it attracted extensive amendments and opposition over safeguards and eligibility.

Supporters argue that assisted dying would give terminally ill adults greater control and choice at the end of life. Opponents, including Mrs O’Malley, fear that people experiencing depression, fear or uncertainty could interpret an apparently terminal diagnosis as a reason to end their lives when their medical circumstances might later change.

Research cited in the debate indicates that patients with terminal cancer face a significantly elevated risk of suicide, while prognosis estimates can also be uncertain.

Mrs O’Malley’s central concern is not simply whether assisted dying should exist, but whether someone in profound emotional distress can reliably determine that death is the right decision.

She believes that, had assisted dying been legally available when she was diagnosed, she might have been considered mentally capable of making such a decision despite the despair she was experiencing.

That possibility remains deeply troubling to her because her own circumstances changed.

Today, Mrs O’Malley remains active and spends time wild swimming, walking her dog Poppy and caring for her grandchildren. She continues to receive a six-hour chemotherapy infusion at home every fortnight and has undergone more than 200 treatment cycles.

She also says her experience has affected her confidence in the health service. Without private health insurance, she believes she might not have received the specialist opinions and treatment that ultimately changed the course of her illness.

Her story has therefore become part of a wider argument over how Parliament should balance personal autonomy with protection for people whose physical illness may be accompanied by depression, fear and uncertainty.

As MPs return to the issue, Mrs O’Malley hopes her survival will demonstrate why a prognosis of terminal illness should not necessarily be regarded as the final word on a person's future.