Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.
Tracy Hickman had her final wishes granted as she died by euthanasia earlier this week, having previously spoken out about how she wanted to spend her last moments.
Hickman, 57, passed away ‘peacefully’ on Wednesday, having decided to take the route of assisted dying in a bid to guarantee a ‘peaceful’ death.
The Brit was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2019 after a routine mammogram.
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While the cancer receded, by February 2023, it had returned and was spreading, leaving her in serious pain, with the treatment's side effects also including extreme fatigue and incontinence.
Speaking to podcaster Dom Harvey in the weeks before her death, Hickman – who has dual British and New Zealand nationality - opened up about why euthanasia allowed her to ‘exit on her terms’.
“The side effects from the treatment have been horrendous, particularly in the last year. I’m not the person I was,” she revealed.
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“With further medication and treatment I could probably be around for a while longer, but I don’t just want to exist.
"I don’t just want to live and I don’t want to have to deal with the pain and the incontinence and not being able to travel, and all the other stuff that goes with it.
“I’ve lived a very full life, I’m very fortunate with what I’ve been able to do. And [...] I only want to live that sort of life, and if I can’t do that, I want out.”
In the interview, Harvey asked his guest how the day of her death would ideally look if everything went to plan.
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“It will hopefully have some chocolate for breakfast because I’m a real chocoholic, and I’m not going to miss out on that,” she began.
“And then we’re going to go to a beach with the people I really love – my sister and her husband, my niece, my partner and a few close friends – and I’ll listen to the waves, see the sea and I will die.”
Hickman added: “I just feel such a huge relief that I’m going to able to do it in that way. It’s going to be a very gentle way to die."
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In a Facebook post confirming her death, Harvey confirmed that she’d had her dying wish.
“Tracy Hickman passed away peacefully today,” he wrote on social media.
“She was on a beach in the sunshine, surrounded by her loved ones. It was exactly what she wanted.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
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If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
Topics: Cancer, UK News, World News
Jess Hardiman