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Dame Esther Rantzen, the former presenter of BBC current affairs programme That's Life! and founder of Childline, has died at the age of 86. The broadcaster and assisted dying campaigner was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023. Her family paid tribute to her as a devoted mother, cherished grandmother and joyful person. Rantzen had planned to end her life at Dignitas in Switzerland but later said she had become too physically frail to travel. She supported proposed UK legislation allowing assisted dying in certain circumstances.
Broadcaster and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen has died at the age of 86, her family said in a statement. They paid tribute to the “most wonderful mother” and “cherished grandmother” who will be remembered for her “endless capacity for joy”.
Rantzen, who presented the BBC TV current affairs programme That’s Life! for 21 years and founded the youth support charity Childline, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023. She had intended to end her life in a Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland but said last September she was no longer able to travel overseas to the facility because she has become “too physically fragile”.
In a statement on September 10th, she said her quality of life had deteriorated since her diagnosis, and that she was ready to end her life but was no longer able to make the journey despite having joined Dignitas about a year after learning she was terminally ill. Rantzen said: “Unfortunately, when I was strong enough to make the flight and go to Dignitas, my life was not unbearably painful, indeed, I was able to relax in my beloved cottage in the New Forest.
“And by the time life did become unbearable, I was too physically fragile to make the journey and go through the Dignitas process. “So even though I had spent the money and made the plans, I was not ready to end my life back then, and did not realise that would be my last chance. ” Assisted dying remains illegal in the UK, though a bill that would allow it in certain circumstances has been debated recently.
Rantzen is a vocal supporter of the bill, and has criticised the current laws that prevent people in her situation from legally ending their lives, calling the rules “messy and cruel”. Legalised assisted dying in the UK has been the topic of intensive debate since Kim Leadbeater’s bill was introduced to parliament in October 2024. – Agencies
Dame Esther Rantzen Childline Assisted Dying Terminal Lung Cancer Dignitas
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