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| Fundraiser to send mother to Dignitas clinic cancelled | Fundraiser to send mother to Dignitas clinic cancelled |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A daughter trying to raise money to pay for her terminally ill mother to die at a Swiss clinic said she is heartbroken after being forced to cancel an event. | A daughter trying to raise money to pay for her terminally ill mother to die at a Swiss clinic said she is heartbroken after being forced to cancel an event. |
| Tara O'Reilly, from Llanelli, has been trying to raise money to send Jackie Baker to euthanasia unit Dignitas. | |
| She said her 59-year-old mother's condition has deteriorated rapidly and she had begged her children to make sure she dies with dignity. | |
| But Mrs O'Reilly said police warned her that she could face prosecution. | |
| Under current UK law, a person encouraging or assisting a suicide or suicide attempt could face up to 14 years in prison, if a decision was taken to prosecute. | |
| Mrs O'Reilly, 40, said: "I've been forced to cancel the night. I don't know what I'm going to do or how I will raise the money. | |
| "The law needs to change. It is inhumane that people should have to suffer in the way that my mother may have to now. | |
| "I'm so upset - the thought of seeing my mum die without her dignity makes me feel sick." | |
| 'Unthinkable' | |
| The decision by Mrs O'Reilly and her sister Rose Baker to arrange an £8,000 fundraising evening with a drag artist and playboy waiters has led to front-page stories in national and international newspapers. | |
| Mrs O'Reilly said she was aware of the possible risks - but did not anticipate her mother's story would gain global press attention. | |
| She added the threat of being arrested or even jailed while her mother continued to worsen placed her in a very difficult position. | |
| On Wednesday, Ms O'Reilly told BBC Wales the family had thought long and hard about their mother's wishes. | |
| "My mother spoke to me and my sister about it and she said if it gets worse, which it has, she wanted to go to Switzerland," she said. | |
| "We were distraught, because it's unthinkable. | |
| "But as the months have gone, and we've seen how much she has deteriorated, unable to feed herself, dress herself. | |
| "It's cruel. You wouldn't let your cat or dog suffer, you'd take them to the vets. It's kind. | |
| "This is not kind. Having to wipe your mother's mouth, feed her and give her drinks through a straw." |