A 53-year-old amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) sufferer from Tuscany, David, is arriving in
Switzerland later Wednesday, accompanied by right-to-die
activist Mina Welby, to commit assisted suicide at a Zurich
clinic as have many Italians including the headline-grabbing
blind and tetraplegic disc jockey DJ Fabo, Luca Coscioni
Association treasurer Marco Cappato said.
ALS, also known as Motor Neurone Disease (MND), is a
progressive nerve-wasting disease that is usually terminal.
Davis has been suffering from it for 26 years and has found his
recent years unbearable, sources said.
Welby is the widow of Piergiorgio Welby, an Italian poet,
painter and activist whose three-month-long battle to establish
his right to die in 2006 led to a debate about euthanasia in
Italy, rekindled by DJ Fabo's and other Swiss suicides.
A bill on end-of-life issues including living wills, but not
euthanasia, is before parliament amid criticism from the
Catholic Church and conservative politicians.
photo: Mina Welby
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