Silent Witness star Liz Carr reveals doctor's chilling comment about 500 patients she helped die

She’s the star of Silent Witness, Good Omens and The Witcher, but Liz Carr is now taking on the most important role of her life. Long before her acting career made her a household name, Liz was an activist campaigning against repeated attempts to legalize assisted dying in the UK. She is now the author of a documentary for the BBC called Better Off Dead?, a project she has been trying to launch since 2011.

“It scares me that the majority of people think assisted suicide is a really good idea,” Liz says. “I don’t think we hear about other points of view. There are a lot of people who have fears. Given the current state of society, recent comments about welfare and people with disabilities, is this really the right time to propose death as a solution? she asks.

Better to be dead? broadcast on Tuesday May 14, at 9 p.m., on BBC One and iPlayer(Image: Linda Nylind / Guardian / eyevine)

Liz, a wheelchair user since she was a teenager, says many people have told her that if they were “like her” they would rather die – and all of her disabled friends have had the same experience.

On the show, Liz asks: “If you saw someone on a bridge about to jump, would you stand there and let them do it?” Would you support them in the name of choice and autonomy? No, you’ll probably step in and suggest they get help. But if it were a disabled person, would your answer be the same? Or do you view their decision to end their lives as understandable, even inevitable?

“Many of us think that assisted suicide creates a two-tier system: suicide prevention for some, suicide approval for others. »

Liz Carr poses on a London Bridge as she discusses suicide in her BBC documentary Better Off Dead? (Image: BBC/Burning Bright Productions Ltd/Devin de Vil)

As part of the program, Liz travels to Canada, where assisted suicide is legal. The law originally only provided for terminally ill patients, but in 2021 it was expanded to include those with incurable illnesses.

Liz meets Amir Farsoud, who suffers from a severe disability and whose request for assisted suicide was approved even though he says he told doctors he was requesting it because his benefits would no longer cover his nursing costs. housing and feared becoming homeless.

Amir’s story is shocking, but Liz’s encounter with Canadian euthanasia doctor Ellen Wiebe is even more disturbing.