'Sadness and joy' at Marie’s funeral

Right-to-die campaigner Marie Fleming loved life, said a minister at her funeral.

The multiple sclerosis patient died at her home last week, aged 59, with her dedicated partner Tom Curran by her side.

She lost a landmark Supreme Court case in Dublin in April, when lawyers argued Mr Curran should be allowed to help end her life without fear of prosecution, as she was physically unable to do it herself.

Rev Canon George Butler said she was “a very generous, bubbly, loving person who loved life and was always very considerate of others”.

Mr Curran was helped into the country church in Avoca, Co Wicklow, by his two sons.

Several hundred people attended the funeral and Dexys Midnight Runners’ ‘Come On Eileen’ played as the coffin was carried into the church.

Canon Butler added: “I would describe the atmosphere as one of sadness and joy and happiness.”

Ms Fleming’s daughter Corinna read a letter from her, in which her mother thanked her legal team, saying it was better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all.

She went to Ireland’s highest court in a bid to be allowed to end her life with assistance.

Diagnosed with MS in 1986, she had been wheelchair-bound for several years, could only move her head, and was living in constant pain.

In her appeal to the Supreme Court she revealed she could not swallow, and that she feared a choking session would eventually kill her.

She had suffered from several chest infections over the last few months and her health deteriorated in recent weeks.

Mr Curran told mourners that she died peacefully at home, in her own bed, which was what she was fighting for.

“So what she fought for, she achieved,” he said.

Recently she had been awake at night, when they had many conversations.

“She knew she was dying,” he said.

He said that she was proud of the impact her red jacket had when she attended the High Court and she did not want people dressing in black for her funeral.

“She wanted this day to be a happy day.”

Her son Simon wore a Christmas pullover.

Mr Curran recalled how he lay beside her at night, and how a thunderstorm raged on the night she died. He thought that it might be anger at her passing, but then believed she was rearranging the furniture from heaven. “She had a bond with nature,” he said.

He said Ms Fleming had made it clear she wanted the right-to-die campaign to continue and he intended pursuing it with others.