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Mike Tindall has opened up on his father's harrowing final weeks after he died following a 25-year battle with Parkinson's disease.
The former England rugby star, 47, said it was 'a relief' that his father was now 'free of his body', and said the experience had left him in favour of assisted dying.
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experience → see → dying
After last week announcing the death of his father Phil at the age of 80, Mr Tindall, who is married to Princess Anne's daughter Zara Tindall, revealed the past three months had been incredibly challenging.
'He'd been awake, I think, properly once in the last three weeks.
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I → announce → weeks
It's been a bad three months for him and it was horrible to see,' he told podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.
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he → see → podcast
Mr Tindall went as far as to describe his father's death as a 'godsend'.
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Tindall → go → godsend
He said Parkinson's had caused a curvature of Phil's spine and left him unable to properly straighten his body.
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Parkinson → say → body
'He had a big operation on his back and if anyone saw my dad, he was sort of bent over,' Mr Tindall explained.
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Tindall → have → dad
'He couldn't straighten, he couldn't hook his head up.'
He added: 'Then it also comes with dietary problems, so bowel problems.
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it → straighten → problems
He already had a bowel blockage eight years ago which he had to have surgery on, and he [almost] died on the operating table.
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he → have → table
Mike Tindall has opened up about the suffering his father endured in the final weeks of his life
Phil Tindall, right, with Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips, waving off Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall after their wedding in 2011
Mr Tindall and his wife Zara, daughter of Princess Anne, at Cheltenham in March this year
'
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father → open → March
Then he chose to sign a non-resuscitation thing.
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he → choose → thing
So when he went in again in June with another bowel blockage, it was dire from the start.
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it → go → start
'But then somehow he managed to sort of get through that.
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he → manage → that
They phoned us three times to say, "You need to get up here because this could be the last day."
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this → phone → us
'And yet every time I got up there he'd be sat up in the chair...
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he → get → chair
Phil later became unable to properly speak or move his arms.
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Phil → become → arms
'He clearly had something to say and he couldn't,' Mr Tindall said.
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Tindall → have → something
'He'd lost all movement by then.
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He → lose → movement
So it's a relief that he's free from his body now, I think.'
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I → think → body
Mr Tindall also revealed a heartbreaking conversation with his dad around two weeks before his death.
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Tindall → reveal → death
Phil told him: 'I'm gonna die tomorrow.'
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I → tell → him
Mr Tindall replied: 'Dad, we've got Mum.
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we → reply → Mum
You've done everything you can.
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you → do → everything
'If you feel that's what you need to do, we're fine with it.
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we → feel → it
But Phil battled on for another fortnight.
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Phil → battle → fortnight
Mr Tindall said: 'It's so easy to be selfish and go, "I didn't really want him to go," but I think he lived a great life.
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he → say → life
He didn't owe us anything.'
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He → owe → anything
Mr Tindall also revealed that having to watch his father struggle in pain had left him in no doubt that assisted dying should be offered to the terminally ill.
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dying → reveal → ill
He hit out at MPs who voted against the bill earlier this month, which created a serious obstacle to it becoming law any time soon.
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it → hit → law
Mr Tindall said: 'Anyone who voted against the euthanasia thing hasn't gone through seeing your dad, who you admire so much, go through what he had to go through.
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he → say → what
He also revealed the father of one of his close friends has motor neurone disease and is planning an assisted death.
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father → reveal → death
'No one wants to see that,' he said.
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he → want → that
'So I don't know, it's a tough one.'
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it → know → ?
Mr Tindall's comments come after MPs rejected the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at its second reading earlier this month by 286 votes to 270.
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MPs → come → 270
The proposed law would have allowed eligible terminally ill adults in England and Wales who were expected to die within six months to seek help to end their lives.
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who → propose → lives
Mr Tindall said his father's death had now allowed happier memories to come flooding back.
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memories → say → ?
He added: 'It's quite nice to remember the better times when he was far more mobile.
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he → add → times
They're the ones that you remember.'
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you → remember → that
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