Multiple sclerosis sufferer asks to be able to kill himself in Italy

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 5 - A 44-year-old Italian multiple sclerosis sufferer on Monday appealed for help in ending his life and suffering in Italy, where euthanasia is illegal.
    A number of Italian terminal patients have been taken to the Swiss Dignitas clinic by the right-to-die Coscioni Assocation but they have not yet been helped to die at home, although a legal loophole on invasive life-support equipment has allowed a handful of people across the country to end their lives in Italy.
    "I would like to be helped to die in my home" was the appeal launched in a video, released by the Coscioni association, by "Massimiliano, a 44-year-old Tuscan, for six years suffering from multiple sclerosis".
    Because of the disease, the man said he is "no longer autonomous in anything' and is 'getting worse day by day'.
    'I feel trapped in a body that no longer functions,' the man said.
    "Only because of fear of pain, I would have already tried to take my own life more than a year ago, so I would like to be helped to die without suffering in Italy but I can't because I don't depend on life-support treatments".
    Massimiliano added in the video message: "I am thinking of going to another country" if his plea fails.
    Coscioni Association Treasurer Marco Cappato is currently being probed for helping several people die at Dignitas.
    photo: Cappato (ANSA).