S03 EP22 – Choosing Dignity: Clare McCue on ALS, Assisted Dying and Parenting Through Loss.
Description
In this episode, Rosie Moss sits down with Clare McCue, who faced one of the most difficult journeys imaginable: walking with her husband Mattie through ALS, and ultimately supporting his decision to die with dignity through Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) law.
Clare shares candidly what it meant to prepare her young son Hudson for his father’s death — not by hiding it, but by weaving him into every stage of the process. From navigating a chaotic healthcare system during lockdown, to explaining assisted dying with honesty and compassion, Clare opens a window onto the realities few families ever speak of.
The conversation explores:
- The emotional, legal and practical steps of pursuing assisted death in Canada.
- How Clare and Mattie made space for dignity and agency, even in decline.
- The raw reality of telling a child that his father had chosen the time and place of his death.
- How organ donation added a powerful sense of legacy to Mattie’s final act.
- The ways Clare turned grief into action through community fundraising and everyday rituals with Hudson.
As Clare says, “Hope wasn’t that everything would be okay, but that there would be meaning in how it worked out.”
This is an extraordinary story of love, courage, and the controversial but profoundly human choice of assisted death.
United States
