Three years ago, Norman Ward sat in his back garden and called his son to tell him he could not take another night of suffering and was planning to shoot himself.

The 75-year-old had been given a terminal diagnosis after living with prostate cancer for 15 years which had spread around his body and had “tried everything” his doctors offered.

Eventually, the pain brought on by his declining health led him into the garden, in St Alban's Close, Gravesend, in June 2021 with a legally owned shotgun.

“He could not carry on anymore and sadly, there was not a safe and more controlled way for him to die,” his son Gareth Ward told KentOnline. “He wanted the pain to stop and he felt there was no other option.”

Since his dad’s passing, he has been actively campaigning for a change in the law around assisted dying and is now backing Kim Leadbeater’s new private member’s bill (PMB) to do just that.

The Labour MP will formally introduce her PMB on choice at the end of life for people with terminal illness in the House of Commons today (October 16).

Details of the legislation will then be published ahead of the second reading where MPs will have the first opportunity to debate its principles on November 29.

It is expected to be similar to the one introduced by Lord Falconer of Thoroton in the House of Lords in July which would have allowed terminally ill adults with six months or less to live be given medical help to end their own lives.

To become law, it has to be approved by MPs and peers and follow the usual stages of a bill through parliament.

Assisting someone to end their life is currently illegal in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

Nevertheless, people like Gareth are committed to seeing that change. He said: “I am campaigning to give people, like my dad, compassion at the end of their lives.

“If the choice was open to him to be able to have checked out in a calm, quiet way as opposed to sitting alone in his back garden, I think it is obvious which one he would have chosen.

“No one would choose such an explosive, sad and horrible way to end their own life if there was a better alternative.

“It is about having a choice and control over your life which I think would have given my dad so much comfort. Giving people control over how they die is compassionate.”

Norman, who was born in Cardiff and served in the Welsh Guards, tried every medical option available to him while he battled cancer but Gareth said his final five years were full of pain and discomfort.

He was on 30 different tablets a day and would go to bed with two syringes of morphine but nothing more could be done to help him.

On the day Norman died, Gareth, who lives in Essex, called 999 but it was one of his two sisters, who lived near their father, who found the grandad-of-seven before the emergency services arrived.

“My dad did not want to suffer anymore,” Gareth said. “I want an assisted dying bill for people, like him, who are in a world of pain and do not want to live like that.”

Assisted dying - often called assisted suicide or euthanasia by its opponents - is controversial and has sparked widespread debate around its ethics.

Journalist and TV presenter Dame Esther Rantzen has brought it to the fore recently, spearheading a petition signed by 200,000 individuals calling for dying people to be able to ask for medical assistance to end their lives.

The 83-year-old has terminal lung cancer and has signed up with Dignitas - an organisation which provides physician-assisted suicide in Sweden where the procedure is legal.

She previously said a change in the law would mean she “could look forward in confidence to a death which is pain-free” and surrounded by loved ones.

However, opponents have argued vulnerable people could feel pressured to have an assisted death and fear how it could evolve.

Christian Action, Research and Education (CARE) is one charity that strongly believes that the law should not be changed branding assisted dying “unethical and medically dangerous”.

Its chief executive, Ross Hendry, told KentOnline: “There is no way to rule out abuses against vulnerable patients including through subtle coercion, mistakes, and malpractice.

“Certain people would face invisible pressure to end their lives because they cannot access the care they need. Poverty, loneliness, and despair would affect decisions. This would be a dangerous step.

“We are deeply concerned that vulnerable Britons – especially those who are lonely and isolated – will be coerced into assisted suicide.

“There is also very strong evidence from other countries showing that people choose to die because they feel like a burden on others. Introducing a law that leads to these outcomes should be considered unacceptable.”

Disability rights activist and actor Liz Carr’s documentary Better Off Dead? also explained how she believes there will be a risk to disabled people if assisted dying is legalised.

Yet, many campaigning for change like Gareth, say any new bill will need to be specific and focus on giving people with a terminal illness a choice, whether or not they decide to take it.

He added: “It is very important that the bill is discussed in length and if it is agreed, the right safeguards are put in place.

“I do not want people to feel threatened or concerned. If this legislation does come into place and it starts to change so Liz Carr’s concerns come true, I would actively campaign to stop it.

“My dad’s situation was very specific. He had a terminal illness, was at the end of his life and he just wanted the pain to stop and that is who I want this to be an option for.

“I do not want it to be an option for anybody else who may feel like a burden to their families or otherwise. People like that should be protected.”

Earlier this year, Pauline Moroney died in her hospital bed only a few weeks after being told she had advanced terminal cancer and there was nothing more doctors could do for her.

She spent her last days in the Margate’s QEQM Hospital pumped full of strong painkillers, unable to eat and too weak to stand.

The 81-year-old believed she should have been given the option to legally end her own life and spared of what she said was the indignity of palliative care.

Speaking at the time, her husband Mike Moroney, said: “Pauline was confused, she was scared and she just wanted to die, and I could not help her in the way we both wanted.

“An awful lot of people are being made, in my view, to suffer unnecessary periods in their life which are not dignified.

“If you have not got some form of control over your life, then what have you got? It is a basic human right.”

Mike, of Chestfield, near Whitstable, has since written to The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, asking him to support a bill which would change the law.

He said: “My time has been fully occupied with caring for my darling wife and best friend of 60 years.

“Finally watching her slowly die and hearing her repeatedly plead that she wanted to die during what is called ‘palliative care’, by dedicated people, but is actually ‘prolonged suffering’.

“We urgently need a safe, fair and compassionate assisted dying law to prevent people suffering at the end of life. No dying person should be forced to suffer against their wishes.”

Palliative care is said to be in a “state of crisis” with many thinking spending more money on improving services is the answer, instead of changing the law around assisted dying.

A spokesperson for pro-life organisation Right to Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said: "This assisted suicide legislation is a disaster in waiting.

"Every suicide is a tragedy and this remains the case for those suffering at the end of their life. The situation for people who may already have a serious illness is not helped by a failing health care system and a cold home.

“In such cases, vulnerable people may feel pressured to end their lives prematurely. This would be an extremely poor indictment of our healthcare system and society as a whole.

“The UK needs properly funded high-quality palliative care for those at the end of their life, not assisted suicide”.

CARE’s Ross Hendry agreed. He added: “Keeping assisted suicide illegal and investing heavily in ethical care, including palliative care, is the best approach.

“UK authorities currently seek to prevent suicide. In doing so, they recognise that the right response to issues arising from terminal illness is not to give people drugs that would harm them, but compassionate support that alleviates pain and distress.

“Assisted suicide denies the intrinsic value of human life and sends a message that some lives are not worth living. Once the door to it is opened, laws can be widened and rules relaxed further.

“We believe that blanket suicide prevention, coupled with robust investment in health and social care is the best way to help people facing serious illness, and ensure that vulnerable and marginalised people are not exposed to injustices as they seek to access support from the state.”

The last time parliament debated assisted dying was in September 2015 when it was introduced by Labour’s Rob Marris. It was rejected by 330 votes to 118.

Before he was elected, Sir Keir Starmer said he was “committed” to allowing a new vote on the legislation and had personally called for a change in the law previously.

Following the announcement that Kim Leadbeater, who represents Spen Valley, in West Yorkshire, sought to introduce a PMB to enable assisted dying, the prime minister decided ministers could vote, or not, however they wish.

In a letter from cabinet secretary Simon Case, it stated the government will “remain neutral” on the passage of this bill which is conventional for issues of “conscience”.