A COUPLE both living with chronic illnesses took the decision to end their lives together.

David and Suzanne Marshall, aged 75 and 72, had been together for 54 years and had three sons and two grandchildren.

Their bodies were found side by side in the bedroom of the house Mr Marshall had built himself in Llanddoged, near Llanrwst.

The joint inquest at County Hall in Ruthin heard that Mr Marshall had sent an email to his family on December 25 informing them of the couple’s decision to end their own lives.

Mrs Marshall, who was known as Russ due to her maiden name, had worked at the medical practice in Betws-y-Coed for 20 years.

She had been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease, a condition which it was suspected had been the cause of her father’s death.

Mr Marshall, a retired builder and craftsman, suffered chronic pain due to rheumatoid arthritis, finding it difficult to stand.

He told his sons that he could not bear the thought of living without his partner of 54 years. They married in Bakewell in 1970, living in Derbyshire and Scotland before moving to North Wales in 1975.

His son, Owen told the inquest that his mother had approached Dignitas and had wanted to end her life in Switzerland in 2018. However, due to difficulties with the application, she was unable to proceed.

A change of medication had improved her quality of life somewhat, and she was able to wash, dress, and make breakfast for herself.

But in the weeks before her death, the inquest heard, her condition had deteriorated. She was increasingly anxious and found it hard to swallow liquids leading to coughing episodes.

Owen said he had visited his parents at their home Ty Derw on December 26 where they told him they were resolved to take their own lives and asked their wishes to be respected.

Another of the couple’s sons Tom arrived at the house on December 28 and found them side by side, fully-clothed, on their bed.

There was a gas bottle in the room.

Police and ambulance crews attended. Although there was no odour of gas, police opened a skylight to air the room.

A post-mortem found, based on the history of events, that the cause of death in the case of both Mr and Mrs Marshall was hypoxia caused by the inhalation of nitrogen gas.

Coroner for North Wales (East and Central) John Gittins said that Huntington’s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis contributed to the deaths of Mrs Marshall and Mr Marshall respectively.

He added that their pain, suffering and quality of life had led to their decision.

A conclusion of suicide was recorded.