Just hours left to live: Cancer-stricken mother, 72, shares her final moments before assisted death - 'I'm ready to go'

The startling reality of assisted dying has been laid bare in a new interview detailing the final hours of one terminally ill woman in America.

Eighteen months ago Roseana Spangler-Sims, 72, was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer—meaning the disease had spread to other parts of the body.

Despite intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy, scan results in June revealed the cancer had continue to spread.

She then made the decision to end her own life by purchasing medications that are legally available for the purpose in her home city of Vista, California, under California's Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) law.

The interview with People, which is bound to spark debate, discussed Ms Spangler-Sims' plans during her final hours—including a microdose of magic mushrooms.

It comes as proposals for legislation on assisted dying in England and Wales are currently making their way through parliament, with a second reading in the House of Lords scheduled for September 12.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill argues for the right for patients with less than six months to live to seek an assisted death.

Speaking before her death, Ms Spangler-Sims said she opted for assisted dying after making piece with her terminal diagnosis, saying 'I'm ready to go. I'm more at peace than I've ever been'.

On August 18, she moved out of her Vista apartment to spend her final two weeks near Palomar Mountain, north of San Diego, with her family, son, Shawn Cisneros, his wife Cindy and Cindy's twin sister, Sandi.

The family drove through the forests, went through boxes of photos and memories from over the years together and also threw her a 'living wake' which saw dozens of friends and family gather to celebrate her life.

Conducting the interview on the final day of her life, August 31, she said she had eaten a light breakfast of papaya and mango, as her stomach can't be full before consuming the fatal dose of medication.

At 11am, she had planned for her death doula to arrive.

While home carers support physical and medical needs such as making meals, providing personal care and giving medication, end-of-life doulas do not.

Instead they offer emotional, practical and even spiritual support.

She had also arranged for a psilocybin facilitator, who ensures the safety and wellbeing of patients during psychedelic therapy, to carry out a ritual with sage and a microdose of magic mushrooms.

The psychedelic was chosen 'to bring myself to that peaceful point,' Ms Spangler-Sims. 'And it's also about feeling one with nature.'

In California, two independent doctors must approve an application for an assisted death.

The patient must have a terminal diagnosis with less than six months left to live.

MAID was passed in October 2015 and officially came into effect in June 2016.

Official figures released in July 2024 show over 4,200 people have died in California from ingesting medications prescribed under the act.

During the interview, Ms Spangler-Sims said she would take anti-nausea medication around 5pm to ensure the MAID medication 'goes in and stays down', when she takes it an hour later.

She planned to drink the solution at 6pm and lie outdoors on the hospital bed, surrounded by her family.

'I want it to go as quickly as possible. I don't want the kids to sit here and look at me half dead for too long. I want to be out,' she said. 'I feel ready to fade.'

Dubbed the 'silent killer' due to its subtle symptoms, pancreatic cancer kills around 100,000 people in the UK every year.

According to the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK, it is the deadliest common cancer and, currently, more than half of people die within three months of diagnosis.

Common symptoms include abdominal and back pain, unexplained weight loss and indigestion, loss of appetite, changes to bowel habits and jaundice.

However these symptoms are often mistaken for other, more common ailments such as IBS.

The charity said 80 per cent of people with pancreatic cancer are not diagnosed until after the disease has spread, meaning life-saving treatment is no longer possible.

There are currently no early detection tests.

The eye-opening interview with Ms Spangler-Sims comes as the UK is seeking to make assisted dying legal.

In June, the House of Commons approved the third reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

In total, 224 Labour MPs supported the Bill alongside 20 Tories, 56 Liberal Democrats and two Reform UK MPs.

By contrast, 160 Labour MPs opposed the Bill, alongside 92 Tories, 15 Lib Dems and three Reform UK MPs.

But while the bill passed its third reading, assisted dying in England is not a certainty.

In a sign of the concern about the Bill, it passed through the Commons by just 23 votes—32 fewer than when MPs backed it in principle last November.

It will now move to the Lords, with opponents vowing to fight it in the upper chamber.

The Bill includes a number of stipulations regarding who would be able to seek assistance with ending their life, and how they could do so.

First, two independent doctors must confirm that the patient fits the following criteria.

They must be over 18, live in England and Wales, and have been registered with a GP for the last year.

They must be deemed to have mental capacity to make the choice to end their own life and not have been pressured into doing so by others.

A medical team must also have calculated they have a bleak prognosis of less than six months.

The patient must also make two separate declarations of their wish to die to ensure the decision has been adequately considered.

If the medics feel the patient is eligible, the case is referred to a High Court judge who makes the ultimate call.

At least two weeks after a positive ruling, a patient is permitted to take their own life with the help of a doctor.

But concerns have been raised that 'gaps' in the legislation would put vulnerable patients at risk of ill-thought-out decisions.

Ms Leadbeater has argued terminally ill people must be given choice at the end of their lives, but opponents of her Bill have warned it fails to guarantee protections for society's most vulnerable.

UK: For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org.

US: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.