A north-east man who sufferers from Parkinson’s disease says he wants the right to die at a time of his choosing – so he does not become a burden on his family.
Alexander Collie, of Westhill, said it was “crazy” that people were forced to suffer needlessly.
And he said losing the ability to feed, dress and clean himself was a “terrible” thought and a fate he believed would leave him with no quality of life.
The 76-year-old, who was diagnosed with the incurable progressive neurological condition nearly 10 years ago, said he was not depressed, was mentally competent and should be able to decide for himself when he wanted to die.
Mr Collie, of Kinmundy Drive, who lives an independent life at the moment, said his family did not want to see him suffer when his illness progressed to an advanced stage.
“With the condition I have, the likely outcome will be I will be increasingly dependent on other people to do ordinary things like feeding, cleaning and dressing myself,” he said.
“It is terrible to contemplate that and I do not want to be a burden to anyone. It would be no quality of life for me at all.”
Mr Collie, who is married to Moira and has three children and five grandchildren, said his family respected his wishes.
“They have got used to the idea,” he added. “They are quite comfortable with me talking about it and accepting of the reality.
“They do not want to see me suffering in a long-term, chronic way.”
Mr Collie, a retired nurse and alcohol and drugs counsellor, said he wholeheartedly agreed with Silvan Luley, of the Swiss assisted-dying organisation Dignitas, who said it was an “atrocity” that people in Scotland had to go overseas to have a dignified, self-determined end of life.
And he said he would consider going to the clinic to end his life if MSPs rejected Ms MacDonald’s proposed bill.
“I would consider anything because I feel there should be access to assisted dying with the appropriate people in Scotland,” he added.
“I think it is dreadful you have to pass over control to someone else and you cannot die wherever you want with your family around you.”
Mr Collie said he had a faith, but was be- coming more intolerant of the view taken by religious groups as time went on.
“What gives other people the moral right to make a judgment on people who are suffering?” he said.
“It is crazy that people have to suffer when they do not want to.”
Edinburgh-based Church of Scotland minister the Rev Scott McKenna said he believed compassion was at the heart of the bill and could not believe in a God “who chooses to prolong suffering”.
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