Noelia Castillo Ramos died this Thursday, March 26 in Spain after carrying out the euthanasia procedure authorized by the Justice, in a case that generated strong controversy worldwide because of the repugnable role of the State and recent allegations of pressure from the hospital to
achieve his death.
The young woman, 25, had been in a critical situation since 2022, when she was left with irreversible paraplegia after jumping from a fifth floor to attempt suicide, after being the victim of rape by illegal immigrants in a juvenile center where she was under state guardianship.
In the hours before the procedure, the hospital prevented her best friend from seeing her before she died. “I wanted to try to change my mind,” said the young woman, regarding her intention to talk to Noelia before euthanasia
.
The process that culminated in his death had been approved after months of legal proceedings, but in recent days there have been complaints that deepened the controversy.
Noelia Ramos
Pressure from the hospital
The president of Christian Lawyers, Polonia Castellanos, publicly denounced that the hospital had pushed for euthanasia because they needed to remove her organs
.
“What his mother told us is that when we won the first precautionary measures, what they tell him is that 'you can't do that because we already had all your organs compromised, '” Castellanos said. As he explained, this situation led the mother to make her daughter sign a document to refuse the donation
.
“Noelia was considering accepting euthanasia, but the hospital told her that there were 'several people who could be saved with their organs'. The mother was present when they told her. She didn't want her daughter to donate her organs,” the lawyers said
.
Noelia's
life Noelia's story was crossed by a difficult
context since her childhood, marked by family problems that resulted in her time in different centers for minors
.
In 2022, in one of those establishments, he suffered a gang rape by illegal immigrants that marked a breaking point. Soon after, on October 4 of that year, he tried to commit suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of a building. Although it survived, the aftermath was irreversible.
As a result of the fall, he was left with complete paraplegia, in addition to suffering from neuropathic pain, sensory disorders, fecal incontinence and total functional dependence that prevented him from regaining autonomy.
In this context, on April 10, 2024, he formally began his request for euthanasia before the corresponding commission in Catalonia, starting a process that went through different judicial instances until its final approval.
Noelia Ramos
The controversy also reached the hospital committee that intervened in the decision.
The lawyer reported that among its members there were people linked to organizations related to transplants and associations that promote euthanasia, such as the Right to Die with Dignity Association.
“The one who donates and the one who receives don't take money, but all the doctors, doctors and hospitals that participate do take money,” said Castellanos, who remarked that “obviously, there are a lot of irregularities in this case.”
The case of Noelia put at the center of the debate the actions of the Spanish State, questioned for not having guaranteed her protection when she was under her care and for not having avoided the fact that led to her irreversible situation.
In contrast, the same system that failed to protect her at the most critical moments was the one that finally enabled the process to end her life.
