A British woman with terminal breast cancer has been euthanised ‘on a beach in the sunshine’ in New Zealand just days after urging the UK to change its laws on assisted dying, her friend has revealed.
Tracy Hickman, 57, who was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in March 2019, had been fighting for euthanasia rights in the UK before passing away on Wednesday.
In a heartfelt tribute posted on Instagram, social media and Tracy’s podcasting pal star Dom Harvey shared a picture of the pair alongside a caption that read: ‘Tracy Hickman passed away peacefully today’.
Speaking on Dom’s podcast two weeks ago, Tracy revealed she would be dying on May 22, and explained the exact way she hoped she would go, and gave details on how she dreamed the day would look.
‘It will hopefully have some chocolate for breakfast because I’m a real chocoholic’, she said, with a smile on her face.
‘And then I’m going to go to a beach with the people I really love… and listen to the waves’, she added.
Tracy Hickman, 57, died by euthanasia on Wednesday on a beach in Bew Zealand, her pal Dom Harvey and partner Paul confirmed on Instagram
The British-New Zealand national had suffered with terminal breast cancer since 2019 and urged the UK to change its laws on assisted dying
Tracy, pictured with partner Paul, said seriously ill people like her in Britain should be given choices about how their life should end
She said she would feel ‘such huge relief’ that is able to ‘do it in that way,’ adding she felt as if she had been given ‘a massive gift’.
‘I feel privileged in the last few months, I’ve said goodbye to so many people – how many people get a chance to do that when they pass away?’ she added.
‘Just feeling very fortunate to be in the position I’m in’.
Among the hundreds of supportive and emotional comments under Dom’s tribute post was one written by Tracy’s partner Paul Qualtrough.
‘Thanks for your handling of this story,’ he wrote.
‘It has been sensitive, and the family really appreciated how you brought it to people’s attention in a way that allowed her to raise the awareness she wanted without sensationalising it nor seeking attention.
‘Thank you so much for turning the simple legacy she sought for her young great nieces and others into something really special.’
Tracy was euthanised in New Zealand – where it has been legalised since 2019, just days after sharing a defiant message on social media where she claimed she was ‘at peace’ with her decision to end her life on her own terms.
Last week, the British-New Zealand national told her fans in a brave statement: ‘The closer it gets, the more peaceful I feel.
‘But I’m so sorry for causing distress to my family and friends, although they understand.
‘The alternative is to live for another couple of months or so but have an uncertain and painful death.’
Tracy often spoke out on laws around assisted dying in the UK, and used her online platform to fight for others in her position to be able to decide when the right time is for them to pass away.
‘Look at what New Zealand has done, and do it even better,’ she said of her message to UK politicians, speaking to The Guardian.
Social media personality and podcast Dom Harvey posted a photo of a sunset on his Instagram alongside a message from Tracy’s sister thanking him for a podcast he did on Tracy’s life
‘There is a lot of focus on the right to life, but people should have the right to a peaceful, gentle death.’
In New Zealand, laws brought in under the End of Life Choice Act in 2019 enable competent adults to choose an assisted death – under the strict conditions that they have a terminal illness, are aged 18 or over, and have six months to live.
Linda Clarke – Tracy’s sister who lives in the UK – echoed her call’s to the UK government
‘If Tracy was still in the UK, I’d have to watch her go through a horrific death,’ she told the British newspaper.
Tracy was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2019 after a routine mammogram, despite being fit, a vegetarian, and non-drinker.
The mammogram had detected a malignant tumour in her left breast and within two hours a doctor was talking to her about a mastectomy and the possibility of chemotherapy.
‘It was so confronting. Two hours after a standard mammogram I was sitting there talking to this doctor about mastectomies without anyone there to support me,’ she told The Press.
Tracy was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer – a form of cancer that is generally more aggressive than others.
A left-side mastectomy was carried out and 12 gruelling weeks of chemotherapy followed.
She said she suffered side-effects, such as hearing loss and ‘chemo brain’, but the cancer receded.
This allowed her to return to work and run marathons.
But in October 2021, Tracy revealed she was watching television with Paul when she noticed numbness on one side of her face and the fingers on her left hand.
‘My first thought was: “Is the cancer back?”,’ she said.
A brain scan did not reveal any abnormalities, with a neurologist suggesting it may have been a form of migraine.
Tracy had her suspicions and was concerned her symptoms could be related to her previous cancer diagnoses but her worries were shut down.
Then the seizures began in November 2022, when Tracy revealed ‘I suddenly couldn’t speak. I couldn’t form sentences and I was numb down my side’.
Numerous visits to hospitals and healthcare centres were made, but to no avail – medics couldn’t seem to deliver an explanation to Tracy’s worsening symptoms.
It was only in February 2023, when a seizure took place in front of a neurophysio that Tracy’s oncologist was finally notified.
An MRI of her back caught two tumours, and a following PET scan showed more tumours that had spread into her lungs, chest wall, lymph nodes and spine.
Tracy said that at this stage, she was not eligible for an assisted death as doctors believed she had more than six months to live.
She said she even considered suicide by refusing to eat or drink.
Her prognosis changed in March this year when doctors discovered dozens of tumours in her brain and advised she probably only had three months to live.
This, she said, was a ‘huge shock’ and has led to her taking morphine.
Following her diagnosis, Tracy applied for an assisted death through New Zealand’s simple process that includes an assessment from two doctors.
A medical team administered her drugs while she relaxed on a beach, until she lost consciousness within a few minutes while listening to the waves surrounded by family.
Euthanasia, or medically assisted death, is currently illegal in both the UK and the wider British Isles, and currently any medic or person who performs euthanasia can face prosecution for manslaughter or murder.
Even helping a terminally ill person take their own life, called assisted suicide, is an offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
While no specific law on assisted suicide exists in Scotland, helping someone end their own life could lead to a prosecution for culpable homicide in circumstances where a court determines a person’s death was not entirely voluntary.
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