SHOULD people have the right to choose their own death?

Last week, a charity that campaigns for people to be able to legally carry out assisted deaths in the UK called for compassion to be shown to the Scot Helen Cowie who took her son to die in Switzerland.

The call for greater understanding from Dignity in Dying came just a short while after Terry Pratchett’s documentary for the BBC, in which he followed a man to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland and watched him die. Pratchett, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, has said he wants to die with a cocktail of drugs, washed down with a brandy in his own back garden. “I would shake hands with death,” said the author.

The reality, of course, wouldn’t be that simple, as Pratchett saw himself during the documentary, which showed him travelling to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to witness the last moments of hotel millionaire Peter Smedley, who suffers from motor neurone disease.

Tom Rodger, 62, from Wishaw, also suffers from the fatal neurological illness – and is in a similar condition to Mr Smedley in his last stage – but takes a very different approach. A former group health and safety manager with Arnold Clark, he was diagnosed in December 2009 and although he can still walk, his arms are now severely affected and his ability to swallow impaired.

Mr Rodger knows that the illness will kill him but doesn’t know when. “It’s painful being on the inside of my body looking out,” he says. “I’ve got to live within the limitations; I’m trapped by my body.”

He would never consider an assisted death however, and worries that if it were legalised, vulnerable people might feel pressured to go. He would prefer to die in a hospice. “I’ve made changes to my house and I’ve looked ahead to palliative care to make sure that the route I’m going down is the right one. Assisted dying is there for abuse. You could have someone pushed into assisted dying because of pressure from their family.”

Mr Rodger does, however, worry that the current legal position means that it is only those who have the means that can go to Switzerland. “To some people, £10,000 would be their life savings, but that’s not an argument for changing the law,” he says.

Inverurie-based Brian Trail, 52, also suffers from motor neurone disease and takes much the same position as Mr Rodger. A former diving engineer in the offshore oil industry, Mr Trail was officially diagnosed in 2007, and despite no hope of a recovery, remains a positive person against all odds.

Mr Trail says he has no intention of ever considering assisted suicide. “I haven’t even thought about it,” said Mr Trail, a father of three. “I’ve got too much to live for. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not an option.

“At the time, going from being a very active person to being told you’re on the slippery slope wasn’t very nice, but you’ve got to deal with it.”

Today, Mr Trail has carers who visit him in the morning to help him get washed and dressed and he is still able to put himself to bed at night. He spends most of his day sitting in a reclining chair, laptop beside him, keeping in touch with friends and contacts via Facebook and email. “Normally you get two to five years and you’re dead but I’m seven or eight years into this now and I’m still here,” he says.

Of the future, “it’s certainly not orange, that’s for sure,” he jokes. But in all seriousness, things will only get more difficult for him. “I’m getting weaker all the time and my breathing is getting harder if I talk too much, so it’s a struggle. It’s progressive – there’s only one outcome. I’m not getting better; I’m only getting worse.”

Matters were compounded when Mr Trail’s wife left him a year ago, leaving the life they’d shared together for over 20 years. “She couldn’t deal with it,” he says. “She said she cared but she wasn’t a carer. It was tough. I was more disappointed than angry. We had a good marriage and then suddenly I’m on the way out and dying and she left.”

Despite this, Mr Trail remains positive. “There are people who are seriously depressed with this disease and you can understand why they get that way – life as you know it has been snatched away from you. And people do deal with things in different ways. But I’m a positive sort of guy – I always have been. I try and always look to the positives.”

And there are many, he says. “I’ve got a huge bunch of pals who keep in contact and I’ve my family, friends and children around about me.” His 21-year-old son David is about to graduate from Heriot Watt University; his daughter Caitlin is studying at Aberdeen University; and his son Andrew, who is in sixth year, still stays with him at home, making his father’s tea most nights, helping to look after him.

It is, in part, because of his children that Mr Trail refuses to consider ever seeking assisted suicide – although he understands Pratchett’s position on the matter. He believes people in certain cases – perhaps those in serious pain – should have the right to take their own life. But it’s very complex. “For me, I’m not really in a lot of pain at the moment. The main pain with me is between my ears – dealing with it. But if I’ve got a problem, I’m happier talking about it rather than bottling stuff up.”

“I can understand why people might want to end things before they become a burden.” But for now, he says, he’s still got something to give. “I have quite a lot of knowledge I can impart upon my children, so it’s not a lost cause just yet. You can’t fight this disease, but you can stay positive – it’s the only thing you can do.”

Scotland’s only charity for the disease, MND Scotland, is celebrating 30 years this year. For more information, call 0141 945 1077 or check www.mndscotland.org.uk