‘She Was In A Dark Time’: Woman Dies By Assisted Suicide In Switzerland, Family Learns Via WhatsApp

Last Updated:September 04, 2025, 18:37 IST

Maureen Slough died by assisted suicide in Switzerland, leaving her daughter Megan devastated after learning of it via WhatsApp.

Maureen Slough, 58, said on July 8 that she was going to Lithuania with a friend.

An Irish woman who told her family she was going on holiday instead travelled to Switzerland to end her life, leaving her daughter devastated after learning of her death through a WhatsApp message. Maureen Slough, 58, from Cavan, said on July 8 that she was going to Lithuania with a friend. In reality, she travelled to Switzerland for assisted suicide, a decision known only to two of her close friends.

Her daughter, Megan Royal, discovered the truth the following day when one of her mother’s friends broke the news.

“A close friend of hers messaged me on Wednesday night, possibly at like 10 pm. I was in bed with the baby," Megan Royal told the Irish Independent, adding, “He just replied like, ‘Your mom’s in Switzerland.’ He’s like, ‘You have a right to know. I was sworn to secrecy. She’s there and she wants assisted suicide.’ I was so scared at that moment."

Megan Royal said she contacted her father immediately, who tried to reach Maureen Slough in Switzerland.

“What was worse was not only did I get the text on WhatsApp, they had advised me that her ashes would be posted to me in 6–8 weeks. In that very moment, because I was alone, I just sat there with the baby and cried… I just felt like my world ended," she recalled.

The message was sent by Pegasos, an assisted dying nonprofit in Liestal, Switzerland. Megan Royal later learned that her mother, who had promised to return home, had secretly filed an application and paid about Rs 17.8 lakh for the procedure.

Assisted suicide has been legal in Switzerland since 1942. Unlike euthanasia, which remains illegal, patients must take the life-ending drugs themselves.

Family Seeks Answers

Maureen Slough’s brother, Philip, a solicitor in the UK, has written to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office requesting an investigation. He claimed Pegasos ignored its own policy of informing families, according to Right to Life UK.

Megan Royal described her mother as “a fiery, smart and dedicated woman" but said she had struggled with mental illness, including a previous suicide attempt after the deaths of her two younger sisters.

“No one’s saying she wasn’t feeling pain. Not pain good enough to go and end her life. She had a lot more life to live and give," Megan Royal said, sharing, “She was just in a dark time. She wasn’t terminally ill or, in my opinion, ill enough to go and do this and leave our family behind like that."

Maureen Slough’s ashes arrived in early August and by the end of the month, the family held a funeral.

News viral ‘She Was In A Dark Time’: Woman Dies By Assisted Suicide In Switzerland, Family Learns Via WhatsApp

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