‘Felt like my world ended’: Irish woman’s shock at learning of mother's death via WhatsApp

It has been just over a month since, Megan Royal, received a WhatsApp text message informing her of her mother's passing in an assisted suicide facility in Switzerland.

Ms ­Royal, who is seeking answers relating to her mother's death, has described how her mother’s ashes were sent back to Ireland in the post by the clinic. “There wasn’t even a condolence card with the ashes, just a cremation certificate," she said.

Details of the ordeal were highlighted by the Cavan woman during a recent episode of the Indo Daily podcast.

During the podcast Ms Royal described how she received the WhatsApp message at approximately 12pm Irish time on the day her mother died. The message read: “Dear Megan, I am writing to you from Pegasos in Switzerland. Maureen asked me to write to you personally and directly inform you, Maureen passed away peacefully at 13:03 Swiss local time. She was not alone, and she was embraced by a Pegasos nurse, attendant, and a dog all together as she died. She was holding a card of her beloved sister, Wendy, in her hand.” 

In conversation with journalist Kevin Doyle, Megan tearfully continued to relay the contents of the message: “She requested Elvis gospel music to be played and Amazing Grace was the song that played when she opened her IV Cannula. I send my sincere condolences to you and your family Megan. May she be lovingly remembered, and her memory be a blessing.” 

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On the podcast, Megan explained that her mother had told her friends of plans to go on a trip abroad, however she never told her daughter of such plans. 

The Monday and Tuesday before her death Maureen had spoken to her daughter on the phone, with Megan assuming that she was at her home in Cavan. 

It was on the Wednesday night of her mother's trip that Megan learnt that her mother was in Switzerland when a close friend of Maureen reached out to her to tell her of her mother's secret plans to die by assisted suicide. 

Megan explained how scared she was receiving the message and how she called her father (and asked him) to speak with Maureen’s friend as she was in too much shock. 

Speaking about her fear, Megan said she knew she had limited time and options. “I’d less then 18 hours to try and get her home or stop it,” she explained. 

Following the conversation with Maureen's friend, Megan's father rang her back and told her: “Say a prayer tonight. I'm not done talking to your mammy. She didn’t have a plan to come home, but she will. Just say a prayer and you will see her in the morning.” 

It was the next day, at noon Irish time, that Megan received the WhatsApp message informing her that her mother had died by assisted suicide. 

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When asked by Kevin Doyle if she responded to the WhatsApp message, MS Royal said she replied: “Where is my mam?” 

The response stated that her mother's ashes "would be posted to me in six to eight weeks.” 

Ms Royal subsequently contacted the Irish embassy in an effort to ensure she received her mother's ashes in a timelier manner. 

Having assumed that her mother's remains would be sent to her, Megan described he she received another shock when an undertaker rang her saying: “I’m very busy at the moment, but your ma’s in the post office and I’m going to grab her in an hour.” 

Ms Royal says the undertaker subsequently sent her a photograph of her mother’s ashes in a parcel. 

She says she has queried Pegasos and has asked to see her mother's medical reports. She also sought to establish who confirmed her mother's death. The questions were never answered and she believes Pegasos has blocked her number. 

When her partner also looked for answers the response received was: “Look, I’m only a volunteer. You need to get onto Pegasos yourself.” 

During the Indo Daily podcast, Megan depicted her mother as having “made a good life for herself” after moving to Dublin with her mother from the UK when she was young. She explained that she had worked for Revenue for 39 years where “she got awards for being best in business there.” 

She added: “She had got problems like the rest of us but despite that she was a fiery, smart, very dedicated woman.” 

Megan Royal is her mother’s only child and growing up she was raised by her dad, seeing her mom every-other-weekend. 

Speaking about her childhood, she said: “My dad did a great job; my mam did a great job when she had me. I sensed a bit of sadness off of her growing up. I had known that she had emotional and I don’t like even using the word mental, but she had problems.” 

Maureen, she said, had moved to the Cavan countryside where she has been residing for the last 15 years, as she “liked the peace and quiet.” 

Prior to her death, the family had faced a series of bereavements, with her two younger sisters passing away. 

Megan said this was when she noticed a change in her mother: “She was just a lot sadder, and you know, talking about not being here a good bit.” 

During this sad time, Megan welcomed a baby girl and hoped that her new granddaughter would help “her turn a corner from the kind of sadness she’d had in the last couple of years.” 

Reflecting, having looked back on videos of her mother holding her newborn daughter, Ms Royal remembers her mother crying: “I thought she was just so happy in that video but it’s now I know the tears in her eyes are knowing she's letting me little girl go.” 

With hindsight, she said: “It was something different. It was (as if) she knew. I have to let all this go. I have the plan to.” 

Pegasos, founded in 2019, is a non-profit group which runs an assisted dying clinic in Basel in Switzerland. The process is legal under Swiss law, and people can end their lives for several reasons without being terminal if they are not being coerced. 

Pegasos claims to follow an extensive assessment process, including a psychiatric evaluation to prove the person is of sound mind as well as an extensive medical history. 

In Maureen's case, Pegasos stated that she provided her medical history with documentation to show that she was suffering pain, including letters from a pain management consultant. 

It is believed that Pegasos was of the belief that contact had been made with Maureen's family about her decision via a letter. However, Megan Roy says this was not the case and the first time that they made contact with her was when she received the WhatsApp message about her mother's passing.

The Indo Daily Podcast is available to listen to on Spotify here -  How a WhatsApp message told an Irish family that their mother had died by assisted suicide - The Indo Daily | Podcast on Spotify

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If you have been affected by this article contact any of the following organisations: Samaritans: 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org; Aware: 1800 80 48 48; Pieta: 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.ie