A GRANDFATHER suffering from a crippling disease killed himself at a controversial suicide centre - despite being told he had years to live.

Andrew Barclay, 65, who had advanced multiple sclerosis, died on Thursday after taking a lethal dose of drugs in an apartment near Zurich having travelled to Switzerland with his wife.

2 The Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, where people can end their own lives legally Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, the former civil servant, from Folkestone, Kent, admitted there are still time when is happy, but they are far outweighed by pain.

He said: "Some people will say it’s a brave decision, others will say it’s cowardly and selfish and ask, ‘what about your wife, what about your family, what about your responsibility to them?’."

He added that he was concerned that his partner Sandra, 67, may face a police investigation on her return to Britain for helping him fulfil his wish.

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Mr Barclay said it had cost more than £10,000 and taken 14 months of "fighting" to die at Dignitas.

He was diagnosed with MS in 1992 and endured the neurological disease though stages of remission and relapse, at times being unable to get out of bed or swallow.

In 2013 he was told his condition had entered a secondary progressive stage that meant his symptoms would not improve.

Using a wheelchair for three years, he was left devastated that he was unable to lift up his two granddaughters, aged two and four.

Meanwhile his continual struggle with immobility, incontinence and partial blindness meant his mood was unpredictable and often depressed.

2 Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying Credit: Dignity in Dying

Mrs Barclay said she had been left heartbroken, but added: "If you love someone you don't want to see them suffer."

He added: "I will miss her too,” added Andrew. “That is the hardest part.”

He has now called on UK legislators to allow assisted dying before ending his own life at Dignitas.

Under the Suicide Act 1961, anyone helping or encouraging someone to take their own life can be prosecuted and jailed for up to 14 years if found guilty of an offence.

In 2015 MPs including former prime minister David Cameron rejected a Bill to legalise assisted dying, but a second Bill was raised in the House of Lords in June.

Opposition to changing the law has come from faith groups, campaigners who say disabled people may feel pressured to end their lives and campaigners who fear assisted dying would become a business.

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of pro-assisted dying group Dignity in Dying, told the newspaper: "It is a tragic and unacceptable reality that seriously ill people like Andrew feel they have no other choice but to spend their final days travelling hundreds of miles to Switzerland in order to have the dignified death they desire."

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