SAEDNEWS: Alex Pandolfo, a 71-year-old from the UK living with Alzheimer’s, has chosen assisted dying in Switzerland — not out of despair, but to live more fully while he still can. His journey blends music, activism, and an unshakable belief in dignity, sparking new debate about life, death, and choice.
On a cloudy July morning at Lancaster train station, Alex Pandolfo greets a journalist with a hesitant smile. “I hope you don’t think this rude,” he had texted earlier, admitting he wouldn’t remember their face. At 71, Alex lives with Alzheimer’s disease. He also lives with something else: a scheduled plan to end his life in Switzerland, when the disease finally takes away his autonomy.
“I love life,” Alex says. “That’s exactly why I’ve chosen to decide how and when it ends.”
Diagnosed in 2015, doctors told Alex he had only three or four years left of lucidity. Nearly a decade later, his condition remains unusually stable. But he knows decline is inevitable.
His coping strategy? A series of alarms and reminders. Ten times a day, his phone and Alexa device buzz with instructions: cook the onions, meet the solicitor, leave for the station. “If I don’t set alarms, I lose time,” he explains.
Despite this, Alex fills his days: organising events for Manchester City fans, protesting for Palestine and migrant rights, hosting dinners with carefully prepared menus he keeps on his phone.
“Every morning is precious,” he says. “I wake up surrounded by memories of the people I love.”
Alex’s philosophy comes not from fear of dying, but from fear of living without dignity. “I’ve never been afraid of death,” he explains. “I’m afraid of not having any quality of life.”
This conviction deepened as he watched both of his parents die with dementia. His father, once a marathon runner, became bedridden and violent as the disease advanced. “He begged me to help him die,” Alex recalls. “If someone had given me a pill, I would’ve gone to jail for giving it to him.”
His mother developed dementia later, reaffirming his belief: “Everyone deserves a dignified death, not just people who can afford Switzerland.”
Step into Alex’s home in Morecambe, and you’ll find walls covered with concert posters: Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Cat Stevens.
“Music is heartbeat and life,” he says. “It shaped who I am — my politics, my love for freedom.”
At 11 years old, Barry McGuire’s Eve of Destruction made him cry on an ice rink. Later, the musical Hair turned him into a lifelong activist for human rights and personal freedom.
That same belief in freedom now drives his advocacy for assisted dying. “It’s about the right to be who you are, even at the end.”
Alex has been approved by a Swiss assisted dying association. He knows that when the time comes, he’ll have to be mentally fit enough to make the decision — meaning, in his words, “the right time will always feel too soon.”
If he could, he’d prefer to die at home: “Music playing, friends dropping by, lots of vegan food.” But UK law forces him to plan a smaller goodbye abroad.
The song he’s chosen for his last moments? Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. “It makes me laugh — and that’s how I want to go.”
Since his diagnosis, Alex has dedicated his energy to fighting for change. He speaks at events, mentors others with degenerative diseases, and even accompanies terminally ill people to Switzerland so they won’t die alone.
“When I got approval to die with dignity, I felt like Lazarus rising from the dead,” he says. “I don’t want to die. I love life. But knowing I have a choice means I can live more fully.”
In June 2025, the UK Parliament narrowly passed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons, moving it to the House of Lords.
The proposed law would allow terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to choose assisted dying. But for Alex, that’s not enough. “By the time I have six months left, I won’t qualify. I won’t be mentally capable.”
Public opinion is shifting: a YouGov poll shows 75% of Britons support legalisation. Yet religious groups, disability advocates, and medical bodies remain strongly opposed. For now, about one UK citizen a week travels abroad for assisted death.
Sitting by the seaside in Morecambe, Alex sums up his journey: “Now that I know I won’t have to suffer a long, painful death, I fear neither life nor death.”
He still dreams of riding a motorcycle again, of more concerts, of more laughter with friends.
“I don’t want to be miserable,” he says, smiling. “I want to be happy. And planning my death is what allows me to love life more than ever.”
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