A family have been left blindsided after learning of their sister’s secret assisted suicide on Instagram at a Swiss assisted suicide clinic.
Wendy Duffy, a 56-year-old former care worker from the West Midlands, reportedly paid £10,000 to end her life at the Pegasos clinic in Switzerland on Friday, 24 April. She did not have any physical illness, but said she was unable to recover from the death of her 23-year-old son.
Pegasos claimed that they spoke with Wendy’s four siblings prior to her death. However, the family have now said this is untrue. Wendy’s twin sister, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said, “We knew nothing about it, none of us saw it coming at all”.
“If I’d have known, I would have been straight down to Birmingham, and I would have stopped her. I would have done everything in my power; I would have held on with both arms”.
Wendy’s sister says she only found out about Wendy’s death through the media.
“My daughter saw it on Instagram and phoned me to say, ‘Mum, have you seen this?’ and I was like, ‘What the hell’s going on? What is this? This has got to be fake’”, she said.
Wendy’s sister says she had “no idea that [Wendy] was thinking about doing anything like this”.
Marcus, Wendy’s nephew, reportedly raised concerns with both British and Swiss police and said the Swiss assisted suicide clinic “claimed they consulted family members as part of the decision-making process and spoke to all four siblings. This never took place. No one was contacted”.
However, Ruedi Habegger, the founder of Pegasos, told the Daily Mail “What I can confirm is that four siblings have been informed. They gave their blessings”. The clinic also claimed that it attempted to contact Wendy’s brother, John, but he said he received no communication from them.
While Wendy’s psychiatric assessment before her death reportedly deemed her “of sound mind”, this has been contested by Marcus, who said she was displaying “clear signs” of depression.
“In this case, Pegasos has taken a completely healthy 56-year-old woman, and not disqualified her on behalf of those mental health issues. How can someone, by virtue of suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts, be deemed of sound mind?” he said.
Marcus said he understands his aunt’s feeling of loss after her son (and his cousin) died, and does not “blame her for doing what she did”.
“She was suffering from a mental health episode, but, because of that, she should have been disqualified by Pegasos”, he said.
Clinic tells family of mother’s assisted suicide via WhatsApp and says ashes in the post
Pegasos has been at the centre of a number of controversies in the last two years. Last year, an Irish family discovered via WhatsApp that their mother had secretly ended her life by assisted suicide in Switzerland and that her ashes would be posted to them, raising concerns that the same thing could happen in England and Wales if Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill were to be revived in the next parliamentary session and become law.
Maureen Slough, 58, from Cavan, Ireland, had told her family that she was going on holiday to Lithuania with a friend in July, but instead went to Pegasos to end her life.
According to her daughter, Megan Royal, Maureen had a successful working life after being promoted to the role of executive officer in the civil service before retiring in 2024. Maureen’s partner, Mick Lynch, described her as being “full of life” after speaking to her on the day of the assisted suicide and had no idea of her plans to end her life. Megan explained that her mother had tried to take her own life in 2024 after two of her sisters had died, believing she was not in her right mind when she decided to end her life in Switzerland.
Megan was reportedly horrified to learn of her mother’s death via a WhatsApp message sent by Pegasos, who told her that her mother’s ashes would be sent by post to her. Both Megan and Mick received “goodbye” letters, handwritten by Maureen, and sent from Switzerland, in the weeks after Maureen’s death.
Megan said “They should not have allowed her to make that decision on her own. This group did not contact me, even though my mother had nominated me as next of kin. They waited until afterwards and then told me she had died listening to an Elvis Presley song”.
Another British woman dies secretly at Swiss clinic
In a similar case, another family were left devastated after a British mother, Anne, ended her life at Pegasos without informing them.
Anne, whose surname has been withheld, told her family she was going on holiday to Switzerland from Wales, but actually went to Pegasosto end her life.
According to Anne’s family, she did not have a terminal illness, with her sister Delia referring to her as “one of the healthiest people we know”. Reports indicate Anne ended her life after suffering from depression following the death of her son.
Anne’s brother and sister, John and Delia, were left devastated when they first heard of Anne’s death through “goodbye” letters that Anne had written before her death, in which she wrote “I am no longer here”.
Having heard nothing further, Delia contacted assisted suicide clinics in Switzerland. After contacting Pegasos, Delia received an auto-reply, then, after further appeals, Delia eventually heard from Pegasos, who said “Anne has chosen to die”.
“All official papers and her urn will be sent to her brother John”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “This appalling story is a taste of what could, and very likely would, have happened if Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill had become law in England and Wales. Her recently defeated Bill did not require that family members be involved in the decision to end someone’s life via assisted suicide at any stage. The proposed law would have allowed exactly what has happened in Wendy’s case in this respect”.
“It is precisely those in the best position to provide support to live, family members, who would not have been required to be involved at any stage under the Bill and who may have only found out about the death of a loved one after it had already happened if the Bill had passed”.
“This would have been completely unacceptable and is a reason why we will be fighting this Bill should it return to Parliament”.
