On 26/3, medical staff at Sant Pere de Ribes hospital in Catalonia carried out Castillo's euthanasia procedure. The young woman said goodbye to her family and requested to be alone in her final moments, according to CNN.

"I just want to go in peace and end all the suffering, that's all", Castillo shared a few days before her death in an interview with Spanish news channel Antena 3. Her story ignited a fierce debate on Spanish social media between those supporting self-determination and those advising her to reconsider.

Castillo explained her decision stemmed from family instability after her parents divorced when she was 13 years old. She had lived in a care center and was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Castillo also experienced sexual assault three times, one allegedly by a former boyfriend, and another at a nightclub where she was raped by two men. She stated she never reported any of these incidents. A few days after the second incident in 10/2022, Castillo attempted suicide but survived, becoming paralyzed in her lower limbs and reliant on a wheelchair. This was the turning point that led her to consider euthanasia.

"Sleeping was difficult for me, not to mention the pain in my back and legs", Castillo recounted. Her suffering was not limited to the physical. She said that before submitting her euthanasia request, "my world was only darkness... I had no goals, no direction, nothing".

Noelia Castillo was paralyzed in her lower limbs after a suicide attempt in 2022. Photo: Astresmedia Television

In Spain, euthanasia was legalized in 6/2021. For Castillo, filing the request was just the beginning of a complicated journey, primarily due to fierce opposition from her family. Her request was approved by the Catalonia Guarantee and Evaluation Commission on 18/7/2024. This body concluded she met all legal conditions, being in an "irreversible clinical situation" leading to "severe dependence, prolonged pain and suffering, resulting in a loss of behavioral capacity". All these factors deprived her of autonomous living and negatively impacted her daily life.

However, in 8/2024, her father, advised by the far-right religious group Catholic Lawyers (Abogados Cristianos), began a legal battle to prevent the procedure, arguing she lacked the capacity to make such a serious decision. "He never respected my decision and never will", Castillo said of her father.

Since then, a prolonged legal process delayed Noelia's euthanasia for 20 months, going through five levels of judicial review: from the local court in Barcelona, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and finally the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). All these judicial bodies did not oppose the young woman's decision. They affirmed she fully met the standards and had the capacity to choose death.

"I understand a father's mindset, that he doesn't want to lose his child", Castillo said in the interview. However, she felt confused because their relationship was not close. "He abandoned me. So why does he want me to live? To keep me confined in a hospital?"

The battle Castillo pursued until the end ultimately helped her achieve her wish. "Finally, I did it, and now I can perhaps rest", she told an Antena 3 reporter. "I can't bear this family anymore, I can't bear the pain anymore, I can't bear what is tormenting my mind".

Castillo said goodbye to her family and requested to be alone in her final moments. "I don't want anyone in the room. I don't want them to see me close my eyes", she said.

Binh Minh (According to CNN, BBC)