Terminally ill Caremark director announces date of death on LinkedIn

Operations director for Caremark Sutton, Simon Binner, is set to end his life in Switzerland today, Monday 19th October 2015, after announcing his decision on his LinkedIn profile page.

Mr Binner of Purley, Surrey, was diagnosed with incurable and aggressive Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in January earlier this year and has decided to attend the clinic in Basel, where he will be assisted to end his life.

Caremark is an established and highly regarded home care provider offering domiciliary care, personal support, home help and companionship services to individuals living within their own homes.

Writing on his LinkedIn page, Mr Binner aged 57, said: “I was diagnosed with aggressive MND on 7 January 2015. As I was driven home I had already decided what I would gladly have to do when my time was upon me.

“I died in Switzerland with Eternal Spirit on Mon 19 Oct 2015 and my funeral was on Fri 13 Nov 2015.

“My MND accelerated very rapidly. The sawbones initially thought I would last until 2017-2018, but they were mistaken.”

According to the MND Association, there are currently 5,000 people living with the disease in the UK. It is known as a progressive illness that attacks the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord. Although symptoms can be managed, at present, there is no known cure.

As a member of the British Humanist Association (BHA), Mr Binner had been working with the charity and other individuals suffering from terminal illnesses in an effort to change the law and make assisted dying legalised in the UK.

Commenting on their ongoing campaign, BHA’s chief executive, Andrew Copson, added: “For the last few months we have been working with Simon Binner and other brave individuals like him suffering with incurable conditions. Like a majority in this country, they want a change in the law so that they and others like them could have the choice of an assisted death here in the UK.

“We were very sorry to learn that his condition had deteriorated to the extent that he now must travel to Switzerland in order to end his own life much sooner than originally planned.

“The tragedy at the heart of Mr Binner’s story is that if the law allowed people with incurable and terminal conditions to seek a doctor-assisted death in this country, he and others like him would have more time to spend with their loved ones before their conditions became intolerable for them.”

A private members’ debate was held in the House of Commons last month in which 330 MPs voted against plans to allow terminally ill adults to end their lives with medical supervision.

Mr Copson continued: “The current law heaps unnecessary suffering and trauma on to families like the Binners. Our thoughts of course continue to be with them at this difficult time.

“We continue to support a change in the law for those who are terminally and incurably suffering to end their lives, provided they have made a rational, committed, and uncoerced decision to do so, just as Mr Binner has made for himself.”