UK Editor Paul Brand speaks to Megan Royal, whose mother travelled to Switzerland to end her life without telling her family
A family from Ireland found out via WhatsApp that their mother had died after travelling to an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
Maureen Slough, 58, travelled to the Pegasos clinic in July, where her family say she was helped to take her own life in secret.
Her daughter, Megan Royal, told ITV News that her mother had not informed anyone of her intentions before flying to Basel.
The first they heard of her death was via a WhatsApp message from the clinic sent shortly afterwards on July 10, stating: “Maureen passed away peacefully today at 1303 Swiss local time.
“She was not alone and she was embraced by a Pegasos nurse, attendant and dog altogether [sic]… She requested Elvis’ Gospel music to be played.”
Maureen had no known terminal illness, and her daughter says she was struggling with the grief of recently losing her two sisters.
“She was having a bad time, not a bad life,” Megan told us. “A cannula isn’t the way, you just need someone to give you a hug and feel supported.”
Maureen had only just become a grandmother to a baby girl, born weeks before she died.
“When I got the message, I was just holding my newborn and trying my best not to break,” Megan said.
“I actually replied to Pegasos, asking, ‘Where is my mum? Who are you?’ I got a bit angry and they blocked me.”
Maureen’s ashes were eventually posted home several weeks later.
“She was sent back with a tracking number,” Megan says. “Like getting an Amazon delivery, but only Amazon are quicker.”
Megan has been unable to recover her mother’s phone or access her messages.
Pegasos told us that in cases where someone is unaccompanied to their clinic, “the deceased person’s mobile phone is reset to factory settings”, meaning nothing can be accessed after their death.
Maureen’s family are the latest to tell ITV News that their loved one disappeared to Pegasos without warning.
In 2023, Alastair Hamilton flew to Switzerland to end his life at the clinic without telling his mother or brothers.
In May 2024, ITV News helped his family trace his final steps to an industrial estate outside Basel, where he was assisted to die alone.
And in January 2025, Anne Canning made the same trip without telling her family.
Assisted dying is legal in Switzerland, where there are very few restrictions and almost anyone can end their own life as long as the person assisting them isn’t driven by selfish motives.
Pegasos has repeatedly promised to change its procedures to ensure that its clients inform a relative before being helped to take their own life.
The clinic claims that it received a letter from Megan giving her blessing to her mother’s decision, which they say was also verified via email.
However, Megan insists that she never wrote a letter or any email and suspects that her mother may have forged both.
After 18 months of investigating the clinic, concerns are now being voiced by legislators in Switzerland about the increased use of assisted dying clinics by foreign clients.
Pegasos is not accused of breaking any Swiss law, but some Swiss politicians are now questioning whether tighter regulation is required.
Heidi Z’graggen, a member of Switzerland’s Council of States, recently raised the issue in parliament.
“In recent years, the number of assisted suicides has increased continuously,” she said.
“More women than men use assisted suicide, and there are many foreign people who travel to Switzerland for this purpose.
“New issues have arisen that raise questions: healthy people, mentally ill people, minors, prisoners or even the use of technical aids.”
She now wants a regulatory framework to be rolled out across Switzerland.
“It should set the conditions that must be met for a person to be supported and accompanied in suicide,” she said, as well as establishing a supervisory system to oversee the procedure.
In response to Megan Royal’s complaint about her mother’s death, Pegasos told ITV News that it was “very sorry for the few instances when family members were not informed by their loved ones of their intentions to die.”
They said: “Most of our patients come accompanied by a loved one. Others choose to come alone but may call family or close friends before their voluntary assisted death.
“In the past, very few people told us in the application process they wanted to go this way alone, without telling anyone.
“Although there is no legal obligation according to Swiss law to do so, we always did our best to ensure that even the latter still informed their relatives of their plans to die.
“In those rare instances, where we had reason to assume that no information had been provided to close family by the person seeking voluntary assisted death, we refrained from assisting them at all.”
But they admitted: “Despite being credibly assured by these individuals that their family knew, for example, by providing letters from a family member or connecting us with that person via an email address, this did not always happen.”
It continued: “In response to these rare cases, we have incorporated extra steps to the application process in the last two years. We decided to no longer accept unaccompanied applicants with living family members unless we will be provided with copies of their passports and will be able to meet them in a video call.”
“We take great issue with any allegations that we are acting without regulation or unethically. Pegasos has always complied and will continue to comply with Swiss law without exception.”
But others believe Pegasos should be shut down – including all three families that have spoken to ITV News.
Megan had one simple message she wanted to deliver to the clinic: “Close the doors, you’re not wanted.”
Samaritans operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year, by calling 116 123.
If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org
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