A severely disabled man who needs round the clock care from his wife is pleading with lawmakers not to legalise assisted suicide. 

Dr Mark Blackwell, a former psychiatrist, said that if the law were changed on assisted dying it would make him feel like his life and suffering were a "waste of time".

His wife, Eppie, who is fully supportive of her husband's views, said she wanted people to know that "life with a severe disability is not all misery".

Dr Blackwell was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2011.  Then in 2016, he suffered a severe stroke after undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery to help with the symptoms of the Parkinson's.  The stroke caused the left side of his body to become paralysed and his speech was left impaired. 

There have been calls again for assisted suicide to be legalised after Mavis Ecclestone was acquitted of murder charges. She administered a fatal dose of medicine to her 80-year-old husband who had advanced bowel cancer. Following her acquittal, the family has been calling for a change in the law on assisted dying.

In a video for the 'Lives Worth Living' campaign, Dr Blackwell admits that his condition did initially make him want to die but he now feels "happy to be alive". 

"At one stage I wanted to die. The thought of 30 years of this sort of life was awful, not able to tell people what I wanted to say because my speech is impaired," he says in the video.

"But I want to be alive because important things have not changed. Eppie, my wife, loves me; my children love me. I have six grandchildren, I enjoy writing my blog, I go to a club where we play games and do puzzles - they think I'm some sort of genius! My friends visit me.

"I am happy to be alive. If assisted dying is legalised, it would make me feel that my life and my suffering are a waste of time. It would make me feel I am a burden for Eppie and my children." 

Mrs Blackwell said she also wanted her husband to live.

"My heart goes out to the suffering of Mr and Mrs Ecclestone, but I want people to know that life with a severe disability is not all misery," she said.

"Of course our life has changed since Mark became ill. But Mark and I enjoy our life really very much as it is now. Our children and our friends would really miss the love and presence of Mark if he ended his life." 

Antonia Tully, of 'Lives Worth Living', said a change in the law would put people like Dr Blackwell "at risk".

"Instead of protecting vulnerable people, death would be offered as a solution for illness or disability," she said.

"People like Mark would soon feel that they are a burden to their families and that they ought to choose death. Their carers would feel the pressure and under scrutiny for keeping somebody alive who could choose death.

"Assisted suicide is not a matter of choice. Once the law is changed, safeguards could quickly be eroded and there would be an expectation that sick, disabled and elderly people should choose assisted suicide. The acceptable 'choice' to make would be death. The law must not be changed."