Noelia Castillo Ramos, a 25-year-old gang-rape survivor from Barcelona, has died by euthanasia this evening following a failed legal battle launched by her father to prevent the procedure.
The young woman was sexually assaulted twice in 2022, first by a former boyfriend and subsequently by three boys at a state-supervised centre for vulnerable young people.
The hospital confirmed her death took place at the Sant Pere de Ribes assisted living facility, where she had been residing.
Ms Castillo Ramos is now the first person in Spain to die by euthanasia.
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On October 4, 2022, after taking cocaine, she jumped from a fifth-floor window of an apartment building, according to legal rulings.
The impact left her paralysed from the waist down with a severe spinal cord injury.
Ms Castillo Ramos identified the attacks she suffered as the turning point that led to her suicide attempt.
Her father, Geronimo Castillo, had fought through every level of Spain's judicial system to prevent the procedure, ultimately reaching the Constitutional Court before taking his case to Strasbourg.
The young woman is now the first person in Spain to die by euthanasia
|ANTENA 3/Y AHORA SONSOLES
He argued his daughter's mental health conditions impaired her capacity to make such a consequential decision freely and consciously, as required under Spanish law.
He also contended her condition did not constitute unbearable suffering and suggested she may have changed her mind.
The European Court of Human Rights rejected his application for interim measures on March 10.
A final attempt on Wednesday to secure emergency intervention through an investigating court was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.
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Spain's euthanasia law came into force in 2021, making the procedure legal
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Medical reports indicated Ms Castillo Ramos suffered from chronic, incapacitating pain with no prospect of recovery, along with neuropathic pain and incontinence.
A specialist committee in Catalonia initially approved her euthanasia request in July 2024, with the procedure scheduled for August 2 that year.
Her mother, Yolanda Ramos, accompanied her daughter despite opposing the decision. "I do not agree, but I will always be by her side," she told Spanish media.
Christian Lawyers, the organisation that backed Geronimo Castillo's attempts to halt the process, issued a statement as the news of Ms Castillo Ramos's death emerged.
"We deeply regret her death and denounce that this case highlights the serious flaws in the euthanasia law, which does not protect the most vulnerable people."
The organisation announced it would pursue further legal complaints against medical professionals involved in the case.
Anyone who is in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide can call the Samaritans anonymously for free from a UK phone on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org.