{"id":55079,"date":"2026-04-24T15:26:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/55079\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:26:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:26:27","slug":"wendy-duffy-dies-in-swiss-clinic-as-planned-after-paying-10k-to-end-her-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/55079\/","title":{"rendered":"Wendy Duffy dies in Swiss clinic as planned after paying \u00a310k to end her life"},"content":{"rendered":"

WARNING: SENSITIVE CONTENT Wendy Duffy, 56, had no terminal illness diagnosis, but travelled to Pegasos in Basel to end her own life [NATIONAL NEWS]<\/p>\n

13:47, 24 Apr 2026Updated 14:02, 24 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"Wendy<\/p>\n

Wendy Duffy(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\n

A British mum who was left heartbroken after the tragic loss of her son has died as she planned in a Swiss clinic. Wendy Duffy, 56, had no terminal illness diagnosis, but she paid \u00a310,000 to the Pegasos clinic in Basel to be able to end her own life.<\/p>\n

The West Midlands former care worker found that the grief after losing her only son four years ago was something she was unable to recover from. Wendy became the first person to speak publicly about making the journey to Pegasos before it happened, reports The Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wendy spoke frankly about the death of Marcus, 23, revealing that she has not been able to recover from his death despite therapy and antidepressants.<\/p>\n

Ruedi Habegger, Pegasos founder, told the Daily Mail today<\/a>: “I can confirm that Wendy Duffy, at her own request, was assisted to die on April 24 and that the procedure was completed without incident and in full compliance with her wishes.<\/p>\n

“I can also confirm that neither we nor any of the professional staff assessing her mental capacity had any doubt as to her intention, understanding and independence of both thought and action. In historical terms at English law, hers was a case of “sane suicide”.’<\/p>\n

Speaking to to Daily Mail journalist Jenny Johnson before her death, Wendy said: “I won’t change my mind…. I want to die, and that’s what I’m going to do.”<\/p>\n

Marcus died four years ago when he fell asleep on the sofa while eating a sandwich while hungover. After Wendy carried out CPR – thanks to her medical training – paramedics rushed him to hospital.<\/p>\n

But they found that half a cherry tomato got lodged in his windpipe. They surmised he must have fallen asleep when he still had food in his mouth and Wendy found him.<\/p>\n

Marcus was brain dead after the lack of oxygen and, after five days, his life supportwas switched off.<\/p>\n

She said: “In the funeral home, I went in every day, and just sat with him, playing through his Spotify list. I broke when I saw him in there. My boy, on a metal table. You can’t come back from that, you know. That’s when I died too, inside.<\/p>\n

“I’m not the same person now as I was. I used to feel things. I don’t care about anything any more. I exist. I don’t live.”<\/p>\n

Wendy never married and struggled for a decade to conceive. In 1998, she got her miracle: Marcus.<\/p>\n

After splitting from his father when Marcus was around four, he and Wendy were inseparable. Marcus was passionate about hip-hop and grime music and was working towards a career in recording.<\/p>\n

Following Marcus’ death, Wendy underwent extensive NHS<\/a> and private counselling and took antidepressants. Nine months after his death, she attempted to take her own life.<\/p>\n

A friend raised the alarm and police broke into Wendy’s home. She spent two weeks on a ventilator and was subsequently briefly admitted to a psychiatric ward voluntarily but left after one night.<\/p>\n

“You can take all the pills, you can go to all the counselling in the world \u2013 and I did,” she said. “Ultimately, they can’t help you. They don’t have to live your life, and my life is agony.<\/p>\n

“Even though I’ve got family, I’ve got friends, I’ve got my routines. I go to the park.<\/p>\n

“I’m not lonely, but I still sit at night and I talk to Marcus, and I kiss the box I had made for his ashes and I say ‘goodnight, sunshine’ and I think ‘I don’t want to be in this world without you, Markie’. And I don’t. It’s as simple as that.”<\/p>\n

Pegasos which accepts psychiatric-only cases – with no physical illness – provided they meet strict criteria. The condition must be severe, long-lasting and treatment-resistant.<\/p>\n

Wendy first became aware of Pegasos in 2024 when it featured in an ITV<\/a> investigation into the death of Alastair Hamilton. Wendy submitted a formal application in early 2025 and then had more than a year of interviews, forms and the submission of her full medical records and therapy history, before a panel of experts approved her case.<\/p>\n

\"Marcus<\/p>\n

Marcus Duffy died four years ago<\/p>\n

Under Swiss law, Wendy must administer the lethal medication herself. She chose to go out listening to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars singing Die With A Smile.<\/p>\n

She waited until her two dogs had died of old age before setting a date at Pegasos. Her care sector background, she said, gave her an ease with death that others might not have.<\/p>\n

“Oh, I’ve seen death a million times. I’ve sat with so many people as they’ve gone. I’ve seen nice deaths, horrible deaths. I want a nice, gentle one.”<\/p>\n

Pegasos founder Ruedi Habegger said before her death: “Wendy is very decided. I saw her at her hotel today, I had a long talk with her and with the psychiatrist that is going to see her a second time before the VAD [voluntary assisted death].<\/p>\n

“He is very confident that we are doing the right thing letting her go, that we should not stand in her way. She is absolutely not in a depressive state. I’m very experienced in this field. There are no worries with Wendy, none at all.”<\/p>\n

\"Pegasos<\/p>\n

Pegasos Clinic in Basel(Image: Pegasos)<\/p>\n

He confirmed four of her siblings had been informed and given their blessing.<\/p>\n

Wendy said: “I have told them all and they support me. They are sad, but they know what this has done to me.”<\/p>\n

Wendy wrote letters to loved ones, and had planned to wear a T-shirt belonging to Marcus. Her belongings, including her suitcase, were to be donated to an animal charity, and her ashes will be returned to her family in the UK and scattered alongside Marcus’ at a park bench dedicated to him.<\/p>\n

Wendy’s four sisters and two brothers reportedly knew she had applied to Pegasos but were not told the exact timing of her procedure. Under UK law, anyone who assisted her – even driving her to the airport – could face investigation or prosecution.<\/p>\n

Pegasos contacted her family directly. Wendy had planned to call them from Switzerland to say goodbye.<\/p>\n

Wendy said she chose to go public to contribute to the assisted dying debate, the latest stage of which is due to take place in the House of Lords imminently. She knew it would act as “a grenade lobbed into the assisted dying debate” \u2014 but was resolute, saying: “My life; my choice. I wish this was available in the UK, then I wouldn’t have to go to Switzerland at all.”<\/p>\n

If you are affected by issues discussed within this article, you may contact Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WARNING: SENSITIVE CONTENT Wendy Duffy, 56, had no terminal illness diagnosis, but travelled to Pegasos in Basel to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4284,14615,69,41,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-55079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-switzerland","8":"tag-in-the-news","9":"tag-nhs","10":"tag-politics","11":"tag-swiss","12":"tag-switzerland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116460387601698999","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}