Terry Pratchett: I have no fear of death

From the Sun: Terry Pratchett: I have no fear of death

ALZHEIMER'S sufferer Terry Pratchett paid tribute to the people who bravely featured in his documentary Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die at the BAFTAs last night.

The author, who picked up the award for Best Single Documentary, said: "It is said that knowing that one day you will die, is the beginning of wisdom.

"I have absolutely no fear of death. I have a dreadful fear of a bad death and I think many people would be with me on that. I fight the corner for assisted death.

"Everybody dies, it should be good to have a good death."

The 64-year-old said of his own health: "Some days I feel a bit worse, and some days I feel a bit better. You just keep going, one day after the other, just like everybody else.

"But always fighting. You should always fight, especially if you think you are going to lose, as that's when you fight the hardest."

Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die was a frank and personal documentary in which Terry considered how he might choose to end his life before his Alzheimer's takes over.

Travelling to the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland, Terry witnessed first hand the procedures set out for assisted death, and confronted the point at which he would have to take the lethal drug.

The cameras also followed Peter Smedley, who had motor neurone disease.

Talking about the hard-hitting documentary, Terry said: "We knew it was a difficult subject and I think that we thought that we might follow Peter to the door of the room where the death would take place and make our excuses and leave.

"They opened a double door and said 'come on in' and some people have said to me that it's very strange to see a man laughing and joking and a little while later he's dead and they couldn't understand why we were laughing and joking."

He explained: "It was displacement activity. There were so many things you can say, and so many things you can't and you just have to find something to laugh at.

"Peter, more or less in his last few breaths, shook my hand and then by name thanked every single member of the crew. Except for the sound man Mike, and he was embarrassed about it and this was a dying man."