Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, has shared a sad update about her mum’s health amid her terminal cancer battle.
Rebecca had previously shared that Esther was “living from scan to scan” as her illness worsened. The I’m a Celebrity star first received her diagnosis for lung cancer in 2023.
Heartbreaking update on Esther Rantzen’s cancer battle
Rebecca revealed during an interview with 5 News last night (March 27) that the medication her mum started using last year has stopped working.
Last year, the TV star was hopeful of delaying the progression of the disease with an “amazing” new drug. At the time, Esther explained: “It doesn’t cure it, it delays it — and at some point, it will stop working, but I have scans to see if it’s still working, and at the moment it is.”
Frankly, Dignitas is out of the window for us as well.
However, when host 5 News’ Julian Druker asked Rebecca if the drug was still helping, she replied: “I really wish that was true, but I don’t think that’s the case any more.”
Assisted death isn’t an option for Esther
Rebecca also revealed that she doesn’t think Esther will now be able to travel to Dignitas, as she had hoped, to end her life peacefully, on her own terms.
The mother are daughter are relentlessly trying to make assisted dying legal in the UK.
Rebecca added: “I just wish that people understood that all the Assisted Dying Bill is, is a choice for people that want it.”
She continued: “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.”
While charity campaigner Esther has “fought her whole life for other people”, she now has no control over hers in the end.
When asked if Esther would spend her last days in Dignitas, Rebecca shared: “Frankly, Dignitas is out of the window for us as well. You have to be relatively healthy to do that. If she had gone, she would have gone months before she would have died here.”
Read more: This Morning praised by viewers as Dr Zoe Williams carries out testicular cancer check on show
Share your thoughts on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.