Tony Nicklinson, sufferer of ‘locked-in syndrome’, dies

Tony Nicklinson, the man who suffered from "locked-in syndrome", has died. Nicklinson became famous over the last several months due to his court battle with the British government over his right to die. 

Last week GlobalPost reported that Nicklinson lost his court case over his right to be legally euthanized.

Nicklinson had a stroke in 2005 and described his life since as a "living nightmare," BBC News reported.

Because of his condition, he is physically incapable of taking his own life, and had been petitioning Britain's High Court to allow a doctor to help him die without fear of persecution. 

Family spokesperson Saimo Chahal told the BBC that Nicklinson died at home at about 10:00 BST accompanied by his wife, Jane, and two daughters, Lauren and Beth.

According to Nicklinson's wife Jane, his health went rapidly downhill over last weekend, having contracted pneumonia.

Chahal added that Nicklinson was heartbroken by the High Court decision that he could not end his life at a time of his choosing with the help of a new doctor.

"He could not understand how the legal argument on his behalf could not succeed," adding that Nicklinson was "crestfallen, totally devastated and very frightened."

Prior to his death Nicklinson became an active member of the Twitter community. His family updated his account to read:

"You may already know, my Dad died peacefully this morning of natural causes. he was 58." His family later added, "Before he died, he asked us to tweet: 'Goodbye world the time has come, I had some fun'."

According to the Huffington Post, there will be no investigation into his death.