A friend of the gang-rape victim who died by euthanasia turned up at the Spanish hospital an hour before her death, hoping to convince her to live.
Warning: This article contains distressing content.
Noelia Castillo Ramos, 25, died by euthanasia in the Barcelona care facility where she lived on Thursday evening.
She was raped on two occasions, once by her ex-boyfriend and the second time by three boys in 2022, after which she jumped from the fifth-floor window of an apartment building in an attempt to end her own life.
The fall left her paralysed from the waist down, and she was suffering severe, chronic and incapacitating pain with no possibility of improvement, according to her medical records.
Noelia requested euthanasia in 2024, but her father blocked the procedure, taking the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, where it was rejected earlier this month.
Read more: Gang-rape victim dies by euthanasia after two-year legal battle
The euthanasia was scheduled for 5pm on Thursday. An hour before, Carla Rodriguez, who said she was Noelia’s best friend, arrived at the residential care hospital in Barcelona and asked to see Noelia, hoping to change her mind.
A cordon had been set up to prevent dozens of people who came to protest Noelia’s euthanasia from accessing the facility and disrupting the procedure. Security personnel also denied her friend access.
“I wanted to try to convince her to change her mind,” Ms Rodriguez tearfully told Spanish outlet Okdiario.
Ms Rodriguez said she and Noelia grew up together and used to be classmates at a local school. They lost touch “when Noelia was transferred to a different care facility”.
She learned about Noelia’s decision to die in the news and hoped to convince her friend to live by telling her about the “wave of affection and solidarity” on social media, where many commented on Noelia’s case.
“Noelia has been through so much,” Ms Rodriguez said, breaking down in tears. She left a handwritten letter for Noelia’s mother, asking to see her friend and offering support.
‘I want to die alone’
Noelia had told Spanish TV programme Y Ahora Sonsoles in her only interview that she wanted to be alone at the moment of her death.
“I’ve told them that family can come to say goodbye, but not when they’re about to give me the injection,” she said.
She also voiced her wish to “die looking pretty, I want to die beautiful”, adding that she would wear her prettiest dress and put on some makeup.
Noelia intended to have four photos with her for her death: one of her painting a portrait of her mother, one of her childhood puppy, another from her first day of school and a fourth from her childhood, which she said reflected “happy” moments in her life.
“I want to go now in peace and stop suffering, period,” she said as she explained that she had been “very clear” about her wish to die from the beginning
While her mother, Yolanda “Yoli” Ramos, told the Spanish broadcaster earlier this week that she hoped her daughter would change her mind, she promised to be by her side “until the very end”.
Noelia had been in psychiatric treatment since she was 13, when her parents separated. She was eventually diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD).
Her father witnessed her attempt to take her own life in October 2022, but Noelia said she didn’t “feel sorry for him anymore” after he launched a legal challenge to stop her euthanasia.
Noelia’s father fought euthanasia for two years
Her euthanasia request was initially granted by a specialised expert committee in Catalonia in July 2024, with the procedure scheduled for 2 August 2024, but her father has blocked it ever since.
Legalised euthanasia and assisted suicide in Spain
In 2021, Spain became the fourth European Union country to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide for people with incurable or severely debilitating conditions.
The law was passed despite years of strong opposition from Catholic and conservative groups in the country.
However, an opinion poll in 2019 found 90% of Spaniards were in favour of decriminalisation.
To qualify, patients must first make two requests in writing – 15 days apart – followed by consultations with medical professionals not previously involved in their care.
If approved, those wanting to end their lives must then submit another request to a regional committee of experts who then make a final decision.
Under the law, medical workers can refuse to participate on grounds of belief.
Geronimo Castillo, supported by the ultra-conservative advocacy group Abogados Cristianos or Christian Lawyers, argued that Noelia’s mental illness impaired her ability to decide to end her life.
During a nearly two-year-long legal battle, he took the case through Spain’s courts until the highest tribunal rejected his argument in February. Mr Castillo appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, where his request for interim measures to stop Noelia’s euthanasia was rejected on 10 March, according to newspaper El Pais.
As a last-ditch effort, his legal team on Wednesday asked an investigating court looking into Noelia’s medical-legal team to introduce “urgent precautionary measures” to stop her euthanasia, but a judge rejected the request due to a lack of jurisdiction.
Members of the Christian Lawyers advocacy group were among those who protested Noelia’s euthanasia outside the facility.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.
Alternatively, you can call Mind’s support line on 0300 102 1234, or NHS on 111.
In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
