The most remarkable thing about Friday’s landmark “death with dignity” judgment could be that Gloria Taylor lived to see it. The 64-year-old grandmother first experienced muscle cramping symptoms in 2003, and was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) six years later. In January 2010, her neurologist predicted she’d be paralyzed within six months and would likely be dead by the year’s end.

She has survived. But the neurodegenerative disorder is taking over, and she’s in decline. “I can no longer drive, and I now have a feeding tube. I am in my power chair all the time, because I’ve had so many bad falls,” she told reporters at a news conference held Monday, three days after a B.C. Supreme Court judge struck down sections of Canada’s Criminal Code that prohibit assisted suicide. Ms. Taylor and four other plaintiffs launched their case in April 2011, asking the court to declare laws unconstitutional.