A terminally-ill West Suffolk man's bid to allow assisted dying is being given a new push following support from Matt Hancock.

David Minns, 74, from Mildenhall was told by doctors that he may only have weeks or months to live after coming off chemotherapy which was treating him for multiple myeloma – a form of blood cancer – and a rare, organ-damaging condition called amyloidosis.

He is continuing to work with the West Suffolk MP in a bid to get a change in the law to allow assisted dying – but accepts any changes are unlikely to come in his lifetime, saying: "It could take months or years and I don't have that long."

Mr Minns is remarkably frank about his condition – and the effect it has on his family. He has already seen how a terminal illness can affect the whole family – his daughter Katie died last year at the age of 46 after seven years of treatment for a sarcoma on her cheek.

He said: "I think it is right to have the choice of assisted dying. As I see it now, the best option would be to just have a heart attack – otherwise, I will just suffer organ failure."

Because amyloidosis is so rare doctors are not able to give Mr Minns an accurate idea of how long he may have left.

But he expects his life will become increasingly painful or he would need so much sedation that he was no longer aware of what was happening.

Mr Minns believes Mr Hancock's support has been invaluable in his campaign to get assisted dying legalised. He said: "I know he gets criticism but what he's done for us is really fantastic."

Parliament last voted on assisted dying seven years ago and Mr Hancock said medical advances and the arrival of hundreds of new MPs meant it should be reconsidered.

The former health secretary said: "David’s powerful testimony made me reflect on the question, ‘When death is imminent and the pain is insufferable, would I want the choice about how to die?’

"As a freedom-loving Conservative, I know I would want that choice. So, I’m calling for an informed, compassionate debate, and a formal Parliamentary inquiry and a free vote on assisted dying."