Bob Cole, 68, (pictured) who was battling an aggressive form of lung cancer, took a lethal cocktail of drugs just 18 months after he watched his wife Ann, 67, die in the same way in Switzerland

A terminally-ill man today died 'with a smile on his face' and urged his loved-ones to 'seize the moment' as he ended his own life at the Dignitas suicide clinic.

Bob Cole, 68, who was battling an aggressive form of lung cancer, took a lethal cocktail of drugs just 18 months after he watched his wife Ann, 67, die in the same way in Switzerland.

In a text sent from his bedside at 2.25pm this afternoon a friend wrote: 'Dear friends, Bob died with smile on his face to Beethoven's Ode to Joy. He asked you all the seize the time'.

The former carpenter wanted to publicise his death because he wants MPs to 'have the guts' to decriminalise assisted suicide in Britain.

He said last night: 'I should be able to die with dignity in my own country, in my own bed. The law needs to change.'

Mr Cole also wrote to his friends to ask for their forgiveness before he travelled to Dignitas to end his life, MailOnline can reveal.

He wrote: 'Here are a final few words while I have the strength both to write and more importantly to put them in some relevant order.

'In the next few weeks I will depart this mortal coil either here in Chester or at my own convenience in Switzerland. It will be the one time I plan to leave on a journey without the fear of not returning home.

'There comes a time when to give up the struggle and that time has arrived for me. Please forgive me if you think I’m being selfish but mesothelioma knows no mercy and there’s only so much physical pain one can take.

'Don’t cry for me- remember the good times and get on and have more'.

The majority of the letters were sent to friends in Blaenau Ffestiniog, the north Wales mining town he lived in for most of his life.

He told them: 'Thanks to all who have texted, emailed or called me or more importantly have had thoughts for me even if these lean towards thank god that old b****** is on his way out.

In a text sent from his bedside at 2.25pm this afternoon a friend wrote: 'Dear friends, Bob died with smile on his face to Beethoven's Ode to Joy. He asked you all the seize the time'

Mr Cole with his wife Ann who also died at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland just 18 months ago

'It is true many of you will have seen my awkward side but I'm sure you all know I was right all along. I like to think that Ann and I have a broad spectrum of friends both in politics, the peace movement and those who with a love of mountains and rivers; to those who enjoyed food and wine or those who wanted to improve Blaenau along with all the many committees we all sat on.

'Life poses many problems and we all like to deal with them in our own way. Ranting, raging, laughter, drinking and above all discussing the problem shared is a problem halved.

Life has taught me from my early days as a trade unionist through the work on regenerating Blaenau that we only get anywhere if we work together as a collective. Only when it comes to individual egos do we fail. But life must contain fun and friendship. Some of you have known me for more than 40 years, some for only a year. But everyone reading this farewell should know that I enjoyed your company and we had fun, even if we did sometimes disagree'.

He signed off simply: 'Love Bob'.

Mr Cole also wrote to this letter to his friends to ask for their forgiveness before he travelled to Dignitas

Former carpenter Mr Cole wanted to publicise his death because he wants MPs to 'have the guts' to decriminalise assisted suicide in Britain

Last night it was revealed that Mr Cole would end his own life at 2pm this afternoon.

He told The Sun: 'I should be able to die with dignity in my own country, in my own bed. The law needs to change.'

He said he has chosen the time of his death because he 'doesn't want to die painfully and slowly eating chocolate ice cream'.

The former carpenter, from Chester, Cheshire, travelled to the Swiss clinic because he has 'no wish to die in pain without any dignity' and will end his own life while listening to Chris de Burgh's Here Is Your Paradise at 2pm today.

Bob Cole, 68 (left), from Chester, who has battled aggressive lung cancer for the last month, has chosen to end his life at the assisted suicide Dignitas clinic in Switzerland – where his wife Ann Hall, 67 (right), died last year

Having been told he had just three months left to live after being diagnosed with mesothelioma - a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos – Mr Cole said he saw no other option but to travel to the Zurich clinic where assisted suicide is legal.

Mr Cole said his cancer had seen him bent double, 'crouching like an animal', adding: 'That's no life.'

Today his closest friends said that the law should be changed.

Jim Buckley, 69, who has known Bob for 35 years, told MailOnline: ‘I think the current law on assisted dying is morally outrageous. ‘I back his decision 100 per cent. How anybody can say it’s not his right is beyond me. Almost everybody I have talked to agrees

‘Politicians need to start making some tough decisions and stop this happening. It’s a tragedy Bob has had to go to Dignitas but in doing so he wanted to further the argument for assisted dying.

‘It’s wrong that Bob does not have the right to end his life the way he wants after all the pain and suffering he, and Ann, have gone through. He has been left in an unbearable situation where he has been forced to go to Switzerland to end his life when he should be at home, in his own bed. How can that be right?'

Mr Cole died at Dignitas surrounded by four of his closest friends, just 18 months after watching his wife die

Neighbour Dafydd Roberts, 68, said: 'This is so unfair. It's terrible that he has had to take this decision, especially after what happened to Ann. He should have been allowed to die at home'.

Mr Cole used his final hours to ask MPs to be 'sympathetic', he told the paper: 'The politicians need to have the guts to change this law. Just bite the bullet. Accept that the British public want this change. If they don't it will be forced upon them because the public feeling is overwhelming.'

It come just 18 months after he travelled to the same clinic to be by the side of his wife, who suffered a rare and degenerative brain condition, as she took a lethal cocktail of drugs to end her life.

Mr Cole – a formerly active man who enjoyed a host of outdoor sports and activities - said he was shocked to learn that he was suffering a terminal illness.

He went to the doctor in May after suffering pain in his lower ribs and two months later a biopsy revealed cancer in the lining of his lungs. He was given just three months to live.

Speaking from the clinic this week, Mr Cole told The Sun's Amy Jones: 'I saw Ann die and a year later to be faced with the same decision yourself is quite the double whammy.

'Everyone should be allowed the choice to die with dignity, which is exactly what Ann chose to do – and is exactly what I will do today.'

Mr Cole said he saw no option but to travel to the Zurich clinic where assisted suicide is legal. It come just 18 months after he travelled to the same clinic to be by the side of his wife (together) who ended her life there

Mr Cole, a former carpenter from Chester, Cheshire, travelled to the assisted suicide Dignitas clinic in Zurich, Switzerland, (pictured) and ended his life at 2pm

Ms Hall, 67, was originally diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2012 but her condition was revised to supranuclear palsy the following year.

The rare condition leads to difficulties with speaking, swallowing and loss of eyesight and there is no cure.

After her devastating diagnosis, she began to research the Dignitas clinic and made the decision to end her own life five months before she did so as she 'felt it was the right time.'

HOW ASSISTED SUICIDE CLINIC IS RAKING IN £8,400 FOR EVERY DEATH Swiss group Dignitas charges up to £8,400 to die at one of its centres. Its 'members' pay £2,400 for the act of suicide by lethal drug dose, plus a further £2,400 for preparation costs and £800 for a compulsory consultation with a doctor. Cremation adds another £1,600, while grieving relatives are charged £1,200 if they want Dignitas to deal with 'official procedures' in Switzerland after the death. The total bill is payable in advance and does not include VAT, according to the group's own website. Members also pay a one-off joining fee of £162 and a further annual fee of £65, all transferred into Dignitas's Swiss bank account. The group, founded in 1998, operates as a non-profit organisation and does not have to make its finances public. Its founder, lawyer Ludwig Minelli, has reportedly become a millionaire since it began, although he has strongly denied the claim. Dignitas says it has helped 1,170 of its members to die, of which around 300 have been British. Critics say it risks sending a message that the lives of those with disabilities or chronic conditions are not worth living. But the organisation says it provides an 'emergency exit door' for those suffering from a terminal illness, unbearable pain or 'unendurable disability'. Advertisement

Speaking after her death, Mr Cole said: 'By this point Ann couldn't feed herself or even go to the toilet by herself.

'Before her illness she was very active, a pillar of the community. She made it quite clear that she wanted to take her life.

'She felt it was the right time to end her life. She didn't want to end up in a home for the next six to 12 months just getting worse.'

The couple, along with a group of close friends, travelled to Zurich on February 6 last year and a few days later, Ms Hall ended her life.

Mr Cole said: 'It wasn't a shock for me that she wanted to do this, it was what she wanted.

'The three days before Ann's death the doctors made sure she wanted to end her life, and she always said yes to them.

'She was lying on the bed propped up and we all said goodbye to her. Before it happened the nurse again asked her if she was sure and she moved her eyes and pressed the button.' Ms Hall took the drugs by an intravenous injection.

Following his wife's death, Mr Cole began a campaign to call for British laws on assisted suicide to be changed.

The Suicide Act 1961 currently makes it a criminal offence to assist or encourage suicide in Britain, and families who help their loved ones to die face potential prosecution.

The law sets a maximum jail sentence of 14 years for anyone who aids and abets a suicide, although there have been few recent prosecutions.

He has previously told how British laws are 'not fair' and that 'people have got to take a stand' to change them.

Speaking in February last year, he said: 'The politicians need to have the guts to change this law in our country. You wouldn't allow a dog or a cat to suffer, so why should a person have to suffer?

'Everyone should be allowed the choice to die with dignity.'