BBC Documentaries

How To Die: Simon's Choice (2016x32)

Uitzenddatum: Feb 10, 2016

Made in partnership with The Open University, How To Die: Simon’s Choice tells the poignant story of one man facing the unimaginable decision of whether to end his life at a suicide clinic. "I thought they'd be indifferent to the timing of my demise,” says Simon Binner in this observational documentary about his life and eventual death. “I was so wrong.” Simon, whose story went public and became the subject of media attention following his death last year, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of motor neurone disease in January 2015 and given just two years to live. After telling his loved ones that he was considering ending his life at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland, Simon and his family and friends grapple with huge moral, emotional and legal dilemmas around his choice. As this moving film shows, their conflicting perspectives mean that his heart wrenching decision lies in the balance until the very end. In a British television first, the documentary gains access to Switzerland’s second largest assisted suicide clinic, the Eternal Spirit centre, where Simon initially makes an appointment to end his life on a set date - his birthday. Simon’s final moments were filmed by medical professionals at the clinic, who are legally required to record their patients’ final decision to take the lethal dose. This has been included within the film, however it does not show the moment of death.