Simon Binner, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in January, posts dates of death and funeral on his profile

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A terminally ill company director has used his LinkedIn profile to announce the dates of his death and funeral before he ends his own life at a Swiss euthanasia clinic.

Simon Binner, 57, an operations director at Caremark – a health and social care organisation in Sutton, was diagnosed with aggressive motor neurone disease (MND) in January.

He updated his profile page on the professional networking site to say he will die this coming Monday and his funeral will be held on 13 November.

In a section entitled Patient, Cambridge-graduate Binner wrote: “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 Monday 19 October 2015 and my funeral was on Friday 13 November 2015.

“My MND accelerated very rapidly. The sawbones initially thought I would last until 2017/2018, but they were mistaken – no worries, it’s an inexact science!

“I don’t recommend MND! Better to have one massive fatal stroke or be killed instantly by a drunk driver! There is nothing that I can say that’s positive about MND.”

Under a second section entitled Non Executive Director, dated June 2013–October 2015, Binner’s profile reads: “I handed over my Operations Director role to Hannah Drury and became a Non-Executive Director. I died on Mon 19 Oct 2015.”

Binner, from Purley in Surrey, will travel to the Eternal Spirit clinic in Basel where he will be assisted to die, according to his profile.

Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said Binner’s story highlighted the need to change the law on assisted dying.

“The tragedy at the heart of Simon’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,” he said.

“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 un-coerced decision to do so, just as Simon has made for himself.”



Motor neurone disease is a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system, leading to muscle weakness and often visible wasting. Sufferers find it difficult to walk, speak, swallow and breathe and eventually the person may become unable to move.

There are about 5,000 people living with the condition in the UK, according to the NHS. There is no known cure for the condition.

In 2013, Binner’s 18-year-old step-daughter Chloe Drury died from the rare bone cancer Ewing’s Sarcoma after being refused access to potentially life-saving drugs because of her age. A campaign was subsequently launched in Chloe’s name calling for changes to medical law.