Talk show host Vanessa Feltz dramatically broke down in tears on her TalkTV programme after hearing the heart-wrenching cancer update from Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter.
Rebecca Wilcox, the daughter of Dame Esther, appeared on Vanessa's programme following the news that her mother is nearing the end of her battle with stage four lung cancer.
The veteran journalist and presenter, 83, has made fresh appeals for discussions and votes on legalising assisted dying, sharing that she would feel more "confidence" if she knew her own demise could be "dignified".
During this emotional episode, Vanessa and Rebecca explored Dame Esther's choice to register with Dignitas, a clinic known for its stance on assisted dying, something she has openly discussed.
Rebecca expressed her vision of an ideal death, one shared by her mother: "Mum's ideal death, my ideal death that I imagine, I share this with many people would be to be in bed surrounded by my loved ones," she said.
She continued her thoughts, stating: "Take a very gentle cocktail of whatever it may be, and I know I'm simply [saying] buying the medicine here, but then to gently drift off holding their hands. Who wouldn't hold that? Who instead would want to be in writhing agony for possibly months? ".
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Vanessa, 62, a family friend of Dame Esther, couldn't hold back her tears during the interview.
"Rebecca, thank you very much, and give mummy all my love and a big kiss from me please," she said, crying, reports The Mirror Online.
On BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Dame Esther shared: "It's a constant background to everything I do."
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"I'm watching the spring flowers come out, thinking: 'This is probably my last spring.' When I talk to my grandchildren when they come and visit me, I'm very aware these moments are precious.
"They may be the last memories they have of me. My own death is constantly in my mind. It would give me so much confidence if I could also know that however the illness progresses, whatever pain it causes, wherever it strikes me next, I will still have the choice of a pain-free, dignified private death surrounded by the people I love."
The respected broadcaster added: "I'm not demanding that everybody in the world agrees with me, I'm just saying let's debate all the issues now that we've got international evidence and we know the public attitude is in favour."
Esther has joined Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland, but has noted that her family could face criminal charges if they were to accompany her to end her life there.
In England and Wales, the 1961 Suicide Act makes it an offence to encourage or assist someone to take their own life.
