Scarborough widow releases book about husband's MND diagnosis and debate with assisted dying

A thought-provoking and moving book which sits in the heart of the debate on assisted dying, Die Smiling by Julie Casson, has been released.

Published by Haythorp Books on February 15, Die Smiling is a rare and intimate account of Scarborough man Nigel Casson’s extraordinary journey from diagnosis of motor neurone disease to his death at Dignitas in Zurich, ten years later, and his ultimate triumph over suffering and disease.

Scarborough resident Julie Casson outlines how her husband Nigel, father of three and successful businessman (co-owner of DNC Scaffolding Ltd and Roofcare Northern Ltd) battles the degenerative disease with boundless courage and gritty good humour, until, faced with the unimaginable torture of a slow, living death – his spirit crushed, his body a tomb – he takes control.

He decides to go to Dignitas to end his life, while he is still able to die smiling.

The book raises questions about the right to put an end to suffering and the right to choose how life should end.

The issue of assisted dying is rising up the political agenda. 84% of the British public support a change in the law to allow assisted dying as a choice for terminally ill adults, and leading British politicians such as Labour leader Keir Starmer, are backing a change in the law in the UK.

Sarah Wootton, Dignity in Dying CEO says of Die Smiling: “Julie Casson lays bare the devastating human impact of the UK’s ban on assisted dying, capturing precisely why true choice at the end of life is a movement whose time has come for this country.

"By turns uplifting and heart-wrenching, Die Smiling is a searingly honest tale of love, life and death, and a powerful contribution to a historic debate.”

In 2011, Julie started a blog, posting light-hearted commentary on every-day existence and specific accounts of Nigel’s experience, which she later developed into this book. She completed a creative writing course at the University of York.

Julie is a supporter of the Motor Neurone Disease Association and member of Dignity in Dying. It is her greatest wish that Nigel’s story contributes to changing the law on assisted dying in the UK.

She is currently working on her second book.

You can purchase the book for yourself here.