Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter gives heartbreaking update on national treasure's terminal cancer diagnosis
28 March 2025, 08:45
Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter has opened up about the star's terminal cancer diagnosis in a heartbreaking health update.
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Dame Esther revealed that she had joined Dignitas at the end of 2023 after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
The Childline founder was told at one point that she had only weeks to live and worried that she would not see Christmas that year.
However, last year, she revealed she had been given an "amazing" new drug which was delaying the spread of her cancer.
Her daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, has now given an update on her health, saying the medication is no longer working.
Asked whether Dame Esther was seeing "improvement", Ms Wilcox told 5 News: "I really wish that was true but I don’t think that’s the case anymore."
Read more: Esther Rantzen ‘delighted’ at result of assisted dying vote, her daughter tells LBC
Read more: Esther Rantzen praised by MP for 'fighting for the future of people who are terminally ill'
Assisted dying: Esther Rantzen explains why she's disappointed in the Health Secretary
Dames Esther has been open about her assisted dying plans while campaigning for it to be legalised in the UK.
"I will go to Dignitas in Zurich for an assisted death, which I hope will be quick and kind and merciful and easy," she previously said.
"And then, I shall come back and haunt the Members of Parliament that haven’t changed our law yet."
Her daughter said she hoped people would be able to sympathise with her mother's situation.
"I just wish that people understood that all the assisted dying bill is, is a choice for people that want it.
"All it is, is giving you peace of mind and that peace of mind, I cannot tell you how powerful that would be right now for my mum.
"I’m a witness to the trauma of uncertainty, to the trauma of stress around what is going to happen.
"The fact that she doesn’t know how her death is going to happen, how the pain is going to progress, the exhaustion, the fatigue, what symptoms are going to come in.
"She is a person who has fought her whole life for other people, and she has no control now."
Assisted dying: Nick Ferrari hears from Dame Esther Rantzen
MPs took the historic step of voting in favour of the bill in November last year.
The vote - which followed five hours of debate - means terminally ill adults can choose to end their life.
It would give adults with less than six months to live with a terminal illness - the right to help with ending their lives. It passed with a majority of 55 votes.
Some members argued it could allow more dignity in death, but others worried it could put even more pressure on the NHS.
One of the safeguards put in place, which required a High Court judge's approval of applications, has since been scrapped.
The bill still needs to go through several steps before becoming law.
