The Supreme Court will rule today on whether Multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer Marie Fleming can end her life with assistance.
Ms Fleming, who is originally from Lifford, took the legal challenge so she can die peacefully at home with her partner Tom Curran without him being convicted and jailed.
The former university lecturer took her appeal to the seven-judge court after losing a legal challenge at the High Court in Dublin.
Mr Curran admitted he is prepared for the worst and revealed his partner will consider taking her case to Europe if defeated again.
“We are not expecting them to overturn the judgment of the High Court,” he said.
“We will just have to wait and see, and we will have to look at it from there.
“Europe is an option, it depends on the judgment. If there’s something in it that will allow is to go further, we will.
“But I’m preparing us for the worst and I’m assuming it will go against us,” added the 65-year-old carer.
Ms Fleming (59) can only move her head, lives in constant pain and cannot swallow.
She suffers choking sessions which she fears will eventually kill her, the court was told during a four-day hearing in February and March.
It is not yet known whether she is well enough to attend the hearing, but Mr Curran will be there supported by his partner’s children Corrinna and Simon and his son David.
Ms Fleming, who is in the final stages of MS, is not asking for someone to kill her, but wants assistance in putting a mask to her face or fitting a cannula in her arm, which she would activate by shaking her head or blowing into.
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