Maureen Slough, 58, from County Cavan, Ireland, told her family she was going on holiday with a friend – but instead travelled alone to Switzerland to end her life
A mum told her family she was off on holiday with a friend but instead travelled alone to Switzerland to end her life — and spent her final hours confiding in a TikTok friend she had never met. Maureen Slough, 58, had concealed her pain from her children.
But she sent a series of haunting messages from inside the controversial Pegasos facility in Basel — where she had paid £13,000 to end her life — in which spoke of “living in hell” for the past year, waking up each day “crying and shaking”.
She told her pal: “God wouldn’t want me dying alone. But I don’t think God wants people to be suffering until the end like f***ing dogs. I wouldn’t even allow my dog to suffer, the way I’ve been allowed to.”
Maureen, from County Cavan, Ireland, had told her family she was heading to Lithuania with a friend on July 8. But instead she travelled to Switzerland, where assisted suicide has been legal since 1942, reports the Mirror. Two days later she died at Pegasos, listening to Elvis Presley’s gospel music, the Daily Mail reported.
Her heartbroken daughter Megan only learnt the news when she received a text from Maureen’s online confidant, who had been sworn to secrecy. And she was horrified when her mother’s remains arrived in a plain brown pot with a scuffed gold label.
Megan, a mum-of-two herself, said: “He just replied like ‘Your mum’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 in that moment.”
Unable to reach her mother in Switzerland, Megan immediately rang her dad. The next day, around 1pm, she received a WhatsApp message informing her of her mother’s death.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Megan said: “In that very moment, because I was alone, I just sat there with the baby and cried… I just felt like my world ended.”
The text message reportedly came from the clinic in Basel. Megan discovered her mother, whom she described as “a fiery, smart and dedicated woman”, had quietly filed an application and paid approximately £13,000 to end her life in July.
Megan added: “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… 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.”
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
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