Niamh Shackleton
Warning: This article contains discussion of death and terminal illness which some readers may find distressing.
A mother who didn't want her children to see her incurable disease progress any further abstained from eating so that she would die.
Emma Bray died in July 2025 after a two-year long battle with motor neuron disease (MND), a degenerative illness that causes muscle weakness that worsens over a few months or years.
There are different types of MND, one being amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which recently claimed the life of Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane.
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The actor was just 53 years old and his passing came less than a year after his diagnosis. ALS is the most common type of MND.
After Emma had been diagnosed with MND, she joined a campaign group called Dignity in Dying — a UK-based community calling for assisted dying to be legalized for terminally ill, mentally competent adults specifically.
Instead of succumbing to her MND, which comes with a life expectancy of 18 months to three years after diagnosis, Emma decided to starve herself so that she passed away before her illness got to the worst it could be.
Speaking about her heartbreaking decision, Emma, 42, told The Mirror in June of last year: "Imagine seeing your children crying and upset and not be able to hug them or curl up in bed and wipe their tears away."
"This is hands down the thing I hate the most about motor neurone disease," she went on. "It's taken my children's mom from them little by little."
Emma explained how she'd initially experienced cramps in her hand - something that triggered a three-year search for the cause.
"For years, I had been told my symptoms were all to do with stress and that I would get better. I went to a private neuro rehab in Leeds who instantly told me that it was something more serious," the mom said.
"I then did some research and became fixated on MND as it matched my symptoms. Going into the consultant appointment, MND was the worst case scenario and to hear him say that’s what it was was crushing."
"I remember howling like an animal when I realized the impact it would have on the children. My best friend was with me and, as we left, I said I wished it was cancer because there would be potential surgery or treatment, with MND there is nothing," she added.
Emma received the 'devastating diagnosis' in July 2023 and started preparing for the end of her life.
She admitted: "The last bit of parenting I can do is to limit the suffering and trauma they have to witness.
"I promised myself to see my daughter finish high school and my son grow up a little so I can picture the man he will become."
Not long after her interview with the newspaper, Emma 'finished [her] final spin round the sun' and it was announced on social media on July 14, 2025, that she had died.
In a message she'd written before her death, Emma said: "If you are reading this then I've finished my final spin round the sun.
"I've lived a very good life, surrounded by love, music and laughter and I want this to continue in my memory. Rather than shed a tear (or whilst you do) please plant a tree or call a friend, do a random act of kindness or take time to watch a sunset.
"For moments of doubt please ask 'what would Emma do?' and run with that probably inappropriate answer. Hug everyone a little tighter and love openly."
The mom-of-two concluded her tear-jerking statement with: "Please surround those who were closest to me with love, time and patience.
"And to quote Frank Turner - Remember you get to dance another day but now you have to dance for one more of us."
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].