Warning: This article contains details of someone taking their own life
The debate around assisted dying remains hotly contested, but one man's story has opened up just how heartbreaking it can be.
Di Syrett had been out walking the dogs in the fields behind the house she lived in with her husband Trevor when her phone buzzed with a text.
It was from Trevor, and contained a heartbreaking message.
The message read: "My dearest friend, lover and wife. I am so sorry for what I have done. I cannot continue with my life the way it is now. I can't walk, talk, eat or drink.
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"I'm in constant pain and I'm losing the use of my right arm and leg. I am having trouble breathing and spasms in my throat are increasing.
"I am only bringing forward the inevitable. I love you more than I can say and I thank you for spending your life with me. Your ever-loving husband, Trevor."
He also added a postscript, saying that she should contact a neighbour who was a nurse and would 'know what to do'.
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He then signed off: "Of course, I wouldn't have to do this if this stupid country allowed assisted dying. You will find me in the workshop. Don't hate me please Di."
Di's story is featured in new ITV documentary A Time to Die.
In 2021, Trevor was diagnosed with progressive bulbar palsy, a form of motor neurone disease.
It wasn't long before he was unable to eat, speak or breathe unassisted.
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He'd previously said he didn't want 'to die grasping for breath'.
After receiving the text, Di returned home and found Trevor where he said he would be, in the workshop on the floor, in his overalls.
She said (as per the Daily Mail): "At first, I didn't know what he had done. There is a lot of equipment in there, like saws, but he'd clearly taken an overdose. He was still conscious.
"Obviously, he couldn't talk anyway – he hadn't been able to talk for a year – but he took a plastic bag out of his pocket. There were tablets in it.
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"When the paramedics arrived, I went back into the house and found a syringe and a jug with drug residue at the bottom. His wedding ring was on the side, with his mobile phone.
"He'd previously said he didn't want to die in the house because he knew I would go on living here so he didn't want me to have that memory."
Heartbreakingly though, it would be another 11 days before Trevor died.
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After the overdose didn't kill him, he was taken to a local hospice and placed under a Deprivation of Liberty order to stop him attempting to take his own life again.
Trevor's only option was to refuse food and water, with Di saying it was 'horrible to watch'.
Assisted dying remains a difficult topic. Its proponents want people with terminal illnesses to be given the right to choose the nature of their death.
However, others raise concerns about how the practice would be regulated, as well fears around it being exploited or people being 'talked into' it.
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A Time to Die airs at 10.45pm on ITV1 and will also be available on ITVX.
Kit Roberts