Will you qualify? What if you’re just worried about money?

In 2018 a lady living in North Wales sold her house for £400,000.   She was 79 and had been widowed two years previously.   There was no mortgage on the house.  She had no close relatives.

Rather than invest in a “retirement property”, she decided to live in a Care Home.   She looked at several and chose the best.   It cost £1,600 per week – a lot of money but she had few other costs and, anyway, her total pension income was around £400 per week.   And she loved it.   She had a beautiful private room, ensuite and  overlooking the sea.   She made many friends.   The staff were attentive and the food was good.   She participated energetically in all the musical and historic entertainment that the Care Home was providing.   It was a really good time of her life.

Her money, of course, was running out.   So in 2023 she had a look at the alternatives that would face her if she could no longer afford the fees.   These alternatives would have been based substantially on payments by her Local Authority.   She thought they were awful; at least, “awful” in relation to her standard of life in the Care Home.   She was 84 and had the usual infirmities of that age but she was not really “ill” in a full medical sense.   Rather than face the prospect of a move, she explored the possibility of a VAD in Switzerland.

She met the criteria for Pegasos.   So long as she was of sound mind, had not been coerced and was firm in her decision, they were prepared to accept her as a patient.   It is likely, though not quite certain, that Dignitas would have taken the same decision.   Lifecircle was not considered because she had not become a member earlier.   EX International was not investigated.