Now that the law has permitted Christian Rossiter’s nursing home to stop feeding him through a tube against his wishes, I hope he will not linger too long.

He has declared that he wants to die and was even trying to travel to Switzerland for help.

My sick father starved to death and it was a horrible way to go. I have personally witnessed the failure of palliative care. Now that the court has conceded, Rossiter has asked that painkillers be administered through the feeding tube instead so that his suffering will not be prolonged.

Mr Rossiter is only 49 and became a spastic quadriplegic as a result of a car accident. He has no quality of life and no hope of recovery and so his nursing home has asked for legal permission to stop feeding him through a tube. Artificial feeding is considered to be a medical procedure and so Rossiter has the right to refuse such a procedure, the court said.

The nursing home was naturally concerned that it could be charged with murder or euthanasia so it went to the law. Thank goodness that the court has seen reason.

I wish Mr Rossiter a peaceful and speedy departure. He has suffered enough. In my opinion, he should be helped to leave this life with more dignity than a slow and painful death by starvation. There is something very callous in a world that condones such cruelty.