A WIFE whose husband is dying from Motor Neurone Disease has called for terminally ill people to be given the right to end their lives.Lynn Fry said it was heartbreaking to watch 58-year-old husband Derek suffer extreme pain on a daily basis.

A WIFE whose husband is dying from Motor Neurone Disease has called for terminally ill people to be given the right to end their lives.

Lynn Fry said it was heartbreaking to watch 58-year-old husband Derek suffer extreme pain on a daily basis.

Mrs Fry from Melrose Road, West Mersea, said when the time came that he could no longer cope, he should have the right to end his life.

"What they are actually going through and what they have to put up with is chronic," she said.

"Everybody should have the right to die if it's done properly. If you saw what he looked like at the beginning of last year compared to now and what he's going through it's so sad.

"He was a really active man but now he is doing nothing at all. I should imagine there are a lot of other people that feel like they've had enough. It doesn't just hit the person who's got it but their family as well."

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is the name given to a group of related diseases affecting the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurones are the nerve cells along which the brain sends instructions, in the form of electrical impulses, to the muscles.

It has stopped Mr Fry from being able to eat, talk and walk, and he is now only able to take food intravenously.

The couple realised something was wrong at the start of last summer when his speech became slurred.

Mr Fry was diagnosed with the condition on June 21, 2002 and his health has rapidly deteriorated.

"It's such a shame to look at him. This time last year he was helping a friend paint his boat," said Mrs Fry, 53.

"To watch the man I married to go down hill like this is such a shame. We thought we were going to have years together. I want to keep him for as long as I can but if he's suffering then I whole-heartedly agree with anything he wants to do.

"Really to me they have no quality of life, once they start getting worse. It's not only them that have it but it's also the people who have to watch it."

Mr Fry, who has a son Tony, 31, and a daughter, Lorna, 34, and four grandchildren, has told his wife that he would want to end his life if he could no longer cope with the pain.

"He keeps saying he doesn't want to suffer with this. If he could do it legally, he would," said Mrs Fry.

The couple are now trying to raise money for research into the condition and for St Helena's Hospice in Colchester.

Mr Fry has already carried out a parachute jump and the couple has so far raised a total of £8,000.

Anyone wanting information on MND can call the National MND Association helpline call 08457 626262. If you would like to help the Frys contact Lynn on 01206 383031.