THE daughter of a 98-year-old woman who suffered for a month after asking for help to die has appealed to northern MPs to back a bill to allow doctors to give lethal levels of medication to those near death.

Sandra McCourt, of Holme on Swale, near Thirsk, said her mother, Julia Bradley, spent her final weeks of her life miserable after being unable to eat due to a blockage in her throat and frequently expressed a wish to end her life.

Mrs Bradley, who lived in Richmond, told medics in the town's Friary Hospital that she did not want to experience the lengthy end-of-life struggle her sister had gone through.

Mrs McCourt said: "She knew she wasn't going to be able to live properly and every day she asked, why am I still here?

"She asked the doctors to take the tubes out, which they did, and to be put to sleep.

"Luckily, she got pneumonia, from which she died, but she spent a month in the Friary.

"It was sad that having made a decision and having been in control of all her decisions that her last straightforward decision could not be granted."

Mrs McCourt said she feared many northern MPs would not attend the Assisted Dying Bill, which would allow doctors give lethal levels of medication to anyone with only six months to live who show a "clear and settled intention" to end their life to two doctors and a judge.

The bill will be given its second reading with a vote in the Commons on September 11 - a Friday, a day when many northern MPs are in their constituencies.

She said: "It's vital MPs from this area attend the debate, every single one of their constituents will be affected by this bill.

"I'm urging people to write to their MPs as for many people this about having peace of mind and not having to travel to Dignitas in Switzerland."

The bill has attracted support from the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, who says it is necessary "in the face of needless suffering", while the current archbishop Justin Welby, has stated a change in the law would "mistaken and dangerous", leaving a "sword of Damocles" over the elderly.

Campaign group Dignity in Dying said 82 per cent of people support giving choice to terminally ill, mentally competent adults, allowing them to have control over the manner and timing of their deaths.