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Shocking end-of-life accounts shared by Express readers on Wednesday show why MPs must "finish what they started" and legalise assisted dying, Dame Esther Rantzen says. In a special report on the day of the King's Speech, we are publishing some of the heartbreaking stories revealed by people who responded to the veteran broadcaster's appeal. Our four-page supplement will be sent to every MP in the coming days to remind them of the real human consequences of inaction.

It comes ahead of a crucial moment when the assisted dying Bill could be brought back to Parliament. Accounts shared with Dame Esther, 85, in emails and letters include a woman who says her husband was "tortured to his final breath" as oesophageal cancer "ate him alive", and a man whose wife begged for help to die while suffering with pancreatic cancer.

Thanking readers who wrote in, Dame Esther said: "Today, we are reminding our elected representatives of the strength of public support by publishing some of the personal stories shared by Express readers.

"We have received scores of messages, showing how so many people across the country are affected by the current messy and cruel law. Let's hope MPs are listening."

Dame Esther, who has terminal lung cancer, has become a leading campaigner for assisted dying since revealing in late 2023 that she had registered with the Swiss clinic Dignitas.

Her daughter, broadcaster Rebecca Wilcox, has also supported our appeal and said readers' stories about Dignitas were a "dark foreshadowing" of what may lie ahead for her family.

Writing in this newspaper, Rebecca, 46, explains that her mother is planning to travel to the Swiss assisted dying clinic but has banned her children from accompanying her to protect them from the risk of a police investigation.

She said: "I just want to take a moment to say a huge thank you to all the Express readers who wrote to Mum and shared their stories. It was no small ask. I can only imagine what reliving those memories must have been like, but your efforts are truly appreciated.

"To think that, in the not too distant future, I will also have one of these stories still bewilders me.

"Mum's illness means she is not guaranteed a peaceful, painless and dignified death, so when the time comes, she has opted to fly to Switzerland and end her death the way she wants.

"This is not an easy option. It also means her family will not be able to travel with her and she will have to die alone. It was stories like Jan Vallance's that really brought this home to us."

In her letter to Dame Esther, Jan, 78, from the Peak District, described facing months of turmoil after travelling to Dignitas with her husband in April 2018.

Mark, a mountaineer who once spent two years working as an Antarctic base commander, had been diagnosed with Parkinson's two decades earlier.

As the condition progressed, he wanted to take control of his death and made the decision to go to Switzerland aged 73. Jan wrote: "His death was peaceful, without pain or drama. We listened to 'Layla' (Eric Clapton)."

The couple, who have one daughter, received a phone call from police while in Switzerland and Jan was interviewed three days after returning to the UK.

She said: "I felt devastated. I was already reeling from what had happened - it had filled out lives for months. Then instead of being able to come back and take it all in, that began immediately. It was a truly horrible experience.

"I've never recovered from it. Although the investigation was eventually dropped, I suffered badly for daring to accompany my husband to his chosen end of life.

"It never occurred to me to refuse. I couldn't have been so callous as to let him make that last journey alone. We had been married for 46 years."

While grieving the loss of her beloved husband, Jan faced a seven-month investigation before finally being told no further action would be taken.

She added: "I am both disappointed and appalled that the assisted dying legislation was blocked by the undemocratic process used ruthlessly by a small number of unelected people."

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill ran out of time in the House of Lords after a small group of peers filibustered to delay progress.

But a new parliamentary session is now beginning and the landmark legislation could soon be reintroduced by an MP drawn in the private member's bill ballot.

The ballot sees MPs drawn according to chance and gives backbenchers an opportunity to propose new laws. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater introduced the assisted dying Bill after being drawn first in the last session.

If the legislation is brought back to Parliament and the Commons votes it through for a second time, then the Lords will not be able to block it again.

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of campaign group Dignity in Dying, said the stories published in the Express today are "a powerful reminder that behind every debate about assisted dying are real people and families who have endured unimaginable suffering under the current law".

She added: "At this crucial moment in the campaign, MPs must take the time to read and reflect on these testimonies. These stories re-humanise the debate.

"They remind Parliament that this issue is not theoretical - it is about people facing traumatic deaths, families forced into impossible situations, and loved ones living with the consequences for years afterwards.

"The courage shown by those who have shared their experiences should not be ignored. Parliament began an important conversation on assisted dying, and the public expectation is clear: MPs have unfinished business on the Leadbeater bill.

"This is about humanity but it's also about democracy - and it affects us all. The Bill must be brought back in the next session so that Parliament can finish the job and decide on giving dying people the choice they deserve."

Jan's experience is a dark foreshadowing of the situation my family and I are likely to face. Do we let Mum fly alone to Dignitas and die without us? Or risk investigation and possible prosecution for accompanying her?

Mum is not prepared to put us through the horror of being accused of her murder, so she has demanded we stay home.

My brother, sister and I can't bear this. It's awful to think of her travelling alone to her death.

She is our cherished and beloved mother, we should be with her. In fact, it feels like an implicit human right to be allowed to be with your loved ones as you die, but this delay in the House of Lords, by a petty few filibustering peers, means my Mum and thousands like her have no certainty nor peace of mind when it comes to their deaths.

Either they risk staying here, and experiencing a death that cannot be eased, that is pain-filled and terrifying, or they pay £15,000 and fly alone to another country where their compassion and empathy means you can choose an assisted death.

That is all we ask for, choice. We want choice at the end of your life, when all other options have been taken from you.

And we're asking for the right to choose not only for Mum, but for the Express readers who wrote to us and the hundreds of people who have contacted us during this campaign.

It's heartbreaking to think how many more stories like Jan's will happen because of this delay in changing the law.

- Rebecca Wilcox is the daughter of Dame Esther Rantzen