A NORTH Baddesley man is completing a walking challenge to raise money for the Dignity in Dying campaign.

Project manager James Johnson, 32, is raising money for the campaign in memory of his mum, who had an assisted death at Dignitas in 2019.

James will be undertaking the Fan Dance challenge on Sunday, March 26, which will see him complete a 15 mile load bearing march across the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales, while carrying 16kg in weight. He is hoping to finish the trek in four hours.

James’s mum was terminally ill with Vasculitis Disease when she decided to end her life with Dignitas. James has chosen to raise money for Dignity in Dying, the UK’s leading campaign to change the law on assisted dying and, at the time of writing, has raised £3,505 on his JustGiving page.

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He said: “My mum was an incredibly strong and proud woman who kept the pain from her illness private until it became unbearable. As a nurse who had treated patients with her disease, she knew what lay ahead of her and she wanted to die on her own terms.

“Watching my mum walk off alone to catch the train was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I am so proud of the immense strength she showed, but I now have to live with the regret of not being able to be with her when she died, which I’d have been able to do if the law in this county were more compassionate.

“I am delighted by the generosity and kindness shown to me as I train for this mission, which I’m undertaking so dying people are no longer forced to travel abroad for the death they want or be left to suffer as they die at home in the UK. My mum deserved the choice, and I do this for her.”

Media and campaigns officer for Dignity in Dying, Molly Pike, said: “Without an assisted dying law, every day terminally ill people like James’ mum are being forced to make impossible decisions between suffering, suicide or seeking the compassion of another country. We need urgent reform in this country to give dying people the choice and protection they want and need.”

To make a donation go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jamesjohnson-dignityindying