A mother who admitted to giving her 7-year-old son a “large dose of morphine” to “quietly end his life” amid his stage 4 cancer diagnosis has died.
Antonya Cooper, 77, from Oxfordshire in England recently confirmed she’d given her son Hamish the fatal dose of the drug in 1981 while speaking to BBC Radio Oxfordabout wanting to change the U.K. law on assisted dying.
In the interview, she revealed that she was “dying too.” Per U.K. newspaper The Times, Antonya was diagnosed with breast and pancreatic cancer, and the disease had spread to her liver.
On Monday, July 8 Antonya’s daughter Tabitha told the BBC her mother died surrounded by family over the weekend.
Antonya Cooper.
Antonya Cooper Facebook
“She was peaceful, pain free, at home and surrounded by her loving family,” Tabitha said in the statement, per the outlet. “It was exactly the way she wanted it. She lived life on her terms and she died on her terms.”
Per the BBC, Tabitha confirmed that Thames Valley Police officers had visited the family before Antonya’s death.
Thames Valley Police didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE on Monday but previously said they were “aware of reports relating to an apparent case of assisted dying of a seven-year-old boy, in 1981.”
“At this early stage, the force is making enquiries into these reports and is not in a position to comment further while these investigations continue,” the statement to PEOPLE added.
It is currently illegal in England to assist or encourage another person to end their life, per the U.K. parliament’s website.
The BBC previously reported that Hamish was five years old when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, which is one of the most common types of cancer among children, per the World Health Organization.
The disease develops from immature nerve cells commonly found near the adrenal glands and can also appear in the kidneys, chest, neck, and spine, per the Mayo Clinic.
Hamish — who was initially given just three months to live — ended up having 16 months of cancer treatment at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, but this left him in “a lot of pain,” Antonya shared in the radio station interview published last week.
“On Hamish’s last night, when he said he was in a lot of pain, I said, ‘Would you like me to remove the pain?’ and he said, ‘Yes please, mama.’ “
“Through his Hickman Catheter, I gave him a large dose of morphine that did quietly end his life,” Antonya added.
During her interview, Antonya said “Yes,” when questioned whether she knew that she was potentially admitting to manslaughter or murder.
“If they come 43 years after I have allowed Hamish to die peacefully, then I would have to face the consequences. But they would have to be quick, because I’m dying too,” she said, according to the BBC.
Antonya insisted, “It was the right thing to do. My son was facing the most horrendous suffering and intense pain, I was not going to allow him to go through that.”
Per The Times, Antonya went on to have four more children and helped launch the charity Neuroblastoma U.K. following Hamish’s death.
“40 years ago, in 1982, a group of bereaved parents came together and formed The Neuroblastoma Society. Following the loss of their sons, Matthew Oldridge and Hamish Cooper, they wanted to help other children and families experiencing neuroblastoma,” a message on the website states.
