{"id":367830,"date":"2026-03-27T10:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367830\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:08:07","slug":"spanish-woman-25-who-won-legal-battle-for-right-to-end-her-life-dies-by-euthanasia-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367830\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish woman (25) who won legal battle for right to end her life dies by euthanasia \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Spanish<\/a> woman who spent months fighting her father for the right to euthanasia after being sexually assaulted and becoming paraplegic has finally ended her life on her own terms by means of an assisted death.<\/p>\n

Noelia Castillo (25) had struggled with psychiatric illness since she was a teenager and tried to kill herself in October 2022 after being sexually assaulted. The attempt left her in constant pain and using a wheelchair. Eighteen months later, she used Spain\u2019s euthanasia law, which was introduced in 2021, to secure permission to end her life.<\/p>\n

But her attempts to obtain euthanasia had been opposed by her father and by Christian Lawyers, an ultra\u2011conservative advocacy group that had supported him. They had argued that Castillo\u2019s psychiatric condition means she cannot make a properly informed decision about ending her life.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, after almost two years of legal challenges through regional and national Spanish courts, the European Court of Human Rights rejected Castillo\u2019s father\u2019s request for euthanasia to be put on hold.<\/p>\n

On Thursday evening Castillo\u2019s wish for an assisted death was granted and she died in a medical facility in the town of Sant Pere de Ribes in Barcelona province.<\/p>\n

Her plight had caught the public imagination and refocused attention on the issue of euthanasia.<\/p>\n

According to the most recent figures from Spain\u2019s health ministry, 1,123 people had an assisted death between June 2021 \u2013 when the euthanasia law came into effect \u2013 and the end of 2024.<\/p>\n

Under the law, anyone of legal age who has a medically certified \u201cserious and incurable illness or a serious, chronic, and disabling condition\u201d can apply for euthanasia if they are \u201ccapable and conscious\u201d when they apply.<\/p>\n

The law defines a serious and incurable illness as one that \u201ccauses constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering without the possibility of relief that the person considers tolerable, with a limited life expectancy, in a context of progressive frailty\u201d.<\/p>\n

Candidates must submit two requests in writing and undergo consultations with medical professionals not previously involved in the case before their application is signed off by a regional committee of experts.<\/p>\n

The law allows two methods of assisted dying: the direct administration of a fatal substance by an authorised health worker, or the prescription or supply of such a substance to patients wishing to end their lives themselves.<\/p>\n

In a TV interview recorded days before her death, Castillo, who had been in psychiatric treatment since she was 13 and who had made repeated attempts to kill herself, defended her decision, saying it was her choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to go peacefully now and to stop suffering,\u201d she told Antena 3. \u201cThat\u2019s all \u2026 there\u2019s nothing I want to do. I don\u2019t want to go out, I don\u2019t want to eat, I don\u2019t want to do anything. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always felt alone because I\u2019ve never felt understood \u2026 before I applied for euthanasia, my world was a very dark place and I foresaw a very dark end. I had no aims, no goals, nothing \u2013 and I still don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castillo said she was tired of people talking about her life when they knew nothing about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve said I just lie in bed,\u201d she added. \u201cBut I get up out of bed and I shower myself. And I put my make-up on by myself \u2026 I\u2019ve managed to do it at last.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see if I can rest now because I can\u2019t go on. I can\u2019t go on with this family, I can\u2019t go on with the pain and I can\u2019t go on with all the stuff that\u2019s tormenting my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castillo said she had made the decision for herself and she did not want to be seen as \u201can example to anyone\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI don\u2019t want anyone to follow in my footsteps. I don\u2019t want there to be people asking how the process works because they want euthanasia and they want to know how it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want them to think about that. I just feel that my life is my life and that I\u2019m not an example to anyone, be it for good or for ill. It\u2019s just my life and that\u2019s all there is to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christian Lawyers held a press conference outside the hospital where Castillo died on Thursday night to restate its opposition to the euthanasia law and to offer prayers for her soul and for her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cNoelia\u2019s case had moved the entire world,\u201d it said in a statement on social media. \u201cThe euthanasia law must be abolished. Every life should be defended, not abandoned.\u201d \u2013 The Guardian<\/p>\n

In Spain, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 900 525 100. In Ireland and Britain, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.ie or jo@samaritans.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Spanish woman who spent months fighting her father for the right to euthanasia after being sexually assaulted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,410,43,2846,14394,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-367830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-mental-health","tag-news","tag-spain","tag-suicide","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}