Famed British graphic artist with MS ends his life at Swiss assisted-suicide clinic

From The Telegraph in the UK:

A graphic artist who illustrated the famous Judge Dredd comics has ended his life at the Swiss clinic Dignitas after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis.

John Hicklenton (pictured), who lived in Brighton, East Sussex, died at the assisted suicide clinic on March 19 aged 42 following a 10-year battle with the disease.

He was renowned for his characteristically-grotesque figures in the cult British comic 2000 AD, including interpretations of famous characters Judge Dredd and Nemesis The Warlock.

Mr Hicklenton, known as Johnny, was also a strident MS campaigner and was the subject of an award-winning television documentary charting his fight against the condition.

In Here's Johnny, which was produced by Brighton-based independent film and TV company Animal Monday, he spoke movingly of using art as an escape.

He said: "Drawing is my walking now, I run with it, I fly with it. It's keeping me alive. I have a thing with it. I can't wait to get a piece of paper with a pen because it's what I can control.

"I haven't got MS when I'm looking at my pictures and I haven't got it when I'm drawing them either. It gives me an ability to express that fear."

The illness took an increasingly tight hold on him, affecting his mobility and he decided to end his life before he became permanently disabled.

Before he went to Dignitas, he told Pat Mills, the founder of 2000 AD: "MS, you have a week to live. You've met someone you shouldn't have ------ with."

Friends and family travelled with him to the clinic, his agent Adrian Weston said.

He said today: "He was one of the most clear-sighted and visionary people I have ever met.

"Having worked with him was one of the greatest privileges of my professional life."

Mr Weston added that he had only recently finished completing his final book, 100 Months, before he travelled to Zurich.

Mr Hicklenton finished his last drawing the day before going to Dignitas. "Johnny said that finishing the book kept him alive for another year," said Mr Weston.

Tributes have been paid online to Mr Hicklenton, with one person describing him as "uncompromising, unpretentious and unique".

On the Lasting Tribute website, Dennis Moore wrote: "Just as his art will live on to shock and inspire new readers and artists, the memory of a spontaneous, thoughtful and funny guy will live on in the hearts of his friends and family."

And on Facebook, Ali Carter said: "Quite the most amazing person I have known for a very long time, breathtaking artwork and inspirational attitude... keep fighting it Johnny."

The MS Trust said: "John was best known for his work on comic 2000 AD and for illustrating characters such as Judge Dredd, but he also led a high profile campaign for better rights for people with MS.

"In 2008, his documentary on his battle with the disease, Here's Johnny, received Grierson awards for Best Newcomer and Best Arts Documentary.

"The fact that John Hicklenton was prepared to use his fame to raise awareness of a condition so often overlooked by the media, and to wage his personal war on MS so publicly is something that is greatly appreciated by people in the MS community."

Assisted suicide remains a criminal offence in England and Wales, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but individual decisions on prosecution will be made on the circumstances in each case, the Director of Public Prosecutions has said.

DPP Keir Starmer QC has indicated that anyone acting with compassion to help end the life of someone who has decided they cannot go on would be unlikely to face criminal charges.

More than 100 Britons have now travelled to Dignitas to take their own lives.