Jane Brown has agreed to tell the story of her brother Colin’s illness and death and the effect this has had on her, to highlight the need for a compassionate law that allows people like Colin the choice of dying with dignity at the time and place of their choosing.
Colin Mutimer died on 24th June 2025 aged 65.
Jane was with Colin for the last weeks of his life and witnessed the terrible suffering he experienced at first hand. Having been a police officer for decades she was used to witnessing death but what Colin went through has had a deep & profound effect on her.
Jane describes Colin as an independent, gregarious, complex, deep thinking, and un-selfish man. He played percussion in a band for 40 years, tap danced and was a talented poet who published a book of poetry and decided to donate the proceeds to the Marie Curie charity. He spent time in his beloved allotment which he crafted into beauty from dereliction. Here, his many friends gathered and chatted and contemplated life. His happy place.
He was much liked in the diverse community he lived in. They installed a bench in his memory in the communal area outside the flats with an inscription of lines of his poetry:
Lean on me today,
There is no better solace,
Shall blow your tired away.
In 2000 Colin was diagnosed with non-hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2018 he had a cancerous kidney removed. Over the following years cancers were discovered in more & more places resulting in, amongst other things, a series of operations to insert metal rods in his arm and leg.
In 2023 after much research, he decided to refuse immunotherapy as it would have badly affected his quality of life. He continued playing in his band, swimming and working in his allotment for as long as he could. He was still playing the spoons and singing, and was swimming with Jane, 25 meters underwater, in January 2025.
A long period of decline culminated in March 2025 when Colin had 3 weeks in severe pain at home and was admitted to the Marsden hospital where he had exemplary treatment and was always extremely grateful for the money, time and effort they spent with him. His cancer was found to have aggressively spread even more widely. On the 12th May he was told he had less than 6 months to live and he decided to refuse further treatment. On 15th this was changed to weeks. On the 18th his arm broke due to the bone cancer. Nothing could be done about it. By now he can’t feed himself, walk or toilet himself or use his phone to have contact with the outside world. He wouldn’t let anyone see him apart from Jane, her husband and one friend. So sad for a man so sociable. He cut off all contact as he was so distraught. He felt desolate and in despair. He was in constant discomfort.
Jane says “Colin’s decision not to have further treatment had given him much angst over the past year. He’d researched a lot, including many conversations with the specialists at the Marsden. It was NOT & I stress NOT, a decision taken lightly in any respect. I remember him asking “will it make me stronger than I am today?”, the answer was no, just longer.”
His last weeks were full of agitation, fear, anxiety and pain. All through this time Jane stayed with him to provide support even if that was just to hold his hand. At one point he said to her: “I’m in despair, I want the day to come”. Jane asked him whether he meant “the day to die” and he replied “Yes”.
Colin’s last couple of days were awful. Jane asked if he was scared. He said “Yes”.
Jane’s last words to Colin were “Go now to Mum & Dad”.
A few weeks before he died Jane told her brother that she was going to a demonstration outside Parliament in support of the Assisted Dying bill. By then he was unable to speak but gave her a thumbs up sign.
During his illness Colin said “You can’t take me to the vet” which Jane feels was his way of pointing out how we treat our pets better than we do people.
Jane says Colin wanted the option of choosing when he had had enough. He would have chosen assisted dying as an option in his last days if the choice was available to him. He just wanted to live life while he could, but he ended up repeatedly saying “Oh man, oh man, what can we do?”.
Jane says “Colin paved the way for me to carry on without him. He knew he wasn’t going to be here forever. I miss our daily chats about life and he always encouraged self care, saying it over & over & over to me. I just miss my big, clever, quirky brother every day. He had strength, tenacity and resilience in abundance. So so so sad it had to end the way it did.”
Notes to editors
My Death, My Decision is a grassroots campaign group that wants the law in England and Wales to allow mentally competent adults who are terminally ill or intolerably suffering from an incurable condition the option of a legal, safe, and compassionate assisted death. With the support of over 3,000 members and supporters, we advocate for an evidence-based law that would balance individual choice alongside robust safeguards and finally give the people of England and Wales choice at the end of their lives.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, sponsored by Lauren Edwards MP, is due to receive its Second Reading on Friday 11 September 2026.
The previous Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill passed its Second Reading in November 2024 by 330 votes to 275. It completed its Commons stages in June 2025 but did not complete its passage through the House of Lords before the end of the parliamentary session.
Jane Brown and representatives from My Death, My Decision are available for interview.
Media enquiries:
Kerry Hogan
kerry.hogan@mydeath-mydecision.org.uk
07922 363248
