Buenos Aires, March 25 (NA) – Noelia Castillo Ramos, a 25-year-old Spanish woman who became paraplegic in 2022 with an irreversible clinical condition, announced she will receive euthanasia this Thursday, the 26th, in Barcelona, after a year and a half of legal battles and opposition from her father. However, the process was halted after being challenged by her father, Gerónimo Castillo, who had the legal backing of the ultracatholic and conservative organization Lawyers for Christian Europe. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the process, the Constitutional Court refused to impose precautionary measures, and the ECHR rejected the final appeal filed by the young woman's father, leaving the authorization in force. Noelia was able to prove that she suffered from a “serious, chronic and disabling” condition. Who is Noelia Castillo Ramos Born in Barcelona, she grew up in an unstable environment that led her to spend part of her childhood within the child protection system, according to Spanish media. After suffering multiple sexual assaults, she attempted suicide by jumping from a fifth-floor balcony, surviving but with severe consequences: she was left paraplegic and with constant pain. “I have four days left because on the 26th they are going to perform the euthanasia on me,” she told the Spanish television channel Antena 3 in an interview, her words have gone around the world. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) finally approved the young woman's euthanasia and rejected her parents' request to halt her assisted death, a fight that had lasted for more than two years. Since then, she has passed through various socio-health centers in a state of extreme dependency. With a diagnosis considered by the justice system as “serious, chronic and disabling,” Noelia was able to decide on her end after her case escalated judicially to the ECHR, which ultimately endorsed her decision. Yolanda, the young woman's mother, accepted her daughter's decision with resignation although she explicitly made clear her disagreement with euthanasia, as learned by the Argentine News Agency. “I just want to go in peace and stop suffering,” Noelia explained in the interview and mentioned that “none of my family is in favor, but a father's happiness should not be above that of a daughter or a daughter's life.” During the report, Noelia referred to the physical pain and psychological discomfort she has experienced all these years: “I don't feel like doing anything, not going out, not eating, not doing anything, and sleeping is very difficult for me, plus I have back and leg pain.” The legal process for the authorization of euthanasia The young woman became paraplegic in 2022 after falling from a fifth floor, and her request to receive euthanasia was authorized in July 2024 by the Catalonia Guarantee and Evaluation Commission.
