Noelia Castillo, a young woman from Spain who faced unimaginable trauma, shared her poignant story in a heartfelt interview just a day before her death by euthanasia. Despite her father’s desire for a different outcome, Castillo bravely explained her decision to end her life, aiming to clarify the circumstances that led her to this choice.
At only 25 years old, Castillo had endured a series of harrowing events. She revealed in her interview with “Y ahora Sonsoles” on Atena 3, as reported by Euronews, that she had been a victim of sexual assault on three separate occasions. These incidents included a gang rape that ultimately pushed her to a suicide attempt, resulting in her paralysis.
The first assault occurred during a four-year relationship with a then-boyfriend. The second incident took place in a nightclub, where two men reportedly attempted to abuse her. The third and most traumatic assault happened at an entertainment venue, involving three individuals, just days before her suicide attempt in October 2022, when she was 21.
Her candid interview aimed to set the record straight against false online narratives suggesting she was raped at a migrant shelter by foreigners and that her euthanasia was granted due to depression. Castillo’s decision was legally sanctioned based on her condition of paraplegia, as verified by clinical documents referenced by Euronews.
Her interview dispels viral online rumors that she was gang-raped at a migrant shelter by foreigners — and that she was granted the right to euthanasia due to “depression.”
Castillo got the OK to end her life legally because she suffered from paraplegia, Euronews reported, citing clinical documents.
She was diagnosed with chronic depressive symptoms and an adjustment disorder with anxiety and depression, but psychiatric reports rule out a major depressive disorder that would impair her decision-making capacity.
Castillo was also diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder, Euronews reported.
Critics also raised questions about the extent of Castillo’s disability in the wake of her interview, as she was seen to be able to do certain activities with assistance.
Castillo’s suicide attempt saw her suffer a complete spinal cord injury at the L3 level, causing paraplegia, neuropathic pain, sensory impairment, incontinence, and the need for a catheter, as well as significant functional dependency, medical records show.
She also had limited mobility with a wheelchair and a very limited ability to walk indoors in adapted environments, the records show.
Castillo died by euthanasia on Thursday in Barcelona after a years-long court battle — including a fight led by her own father.
Castillo said her father “hasn’t respected my decision and he never will.”
“Why does he want me alive? To keep me in a hospital?” she questioned.
Catholic bishops have also denounced Castillo’s decision, with José Mazuelos Pérez, the bishop of the Canary Islands, saying that it proved “we have all failed as a society,” EuroNews reported.
Her request to end her life gained significant media attention, fueled by the Castillo’s young age and controversy over whether she suffered from an incurable or chronic condition, which is required of all applicants under the law, according to El Mundo.
The legal battle started after Castillo’s request for euthanasia was unanimously accepted in 2024 by the Catalan Guarantee and Evaluation Commission, an independent group of medical professionals in the region. The organization found she was suffering under an “unrecoverable clinical situation,” the BBC reported.
Castillo’s case ultimately went through five different courts before this week, when the European Court of Human Rights refused to stop the procedure and a Barcelona court rejected a new appeal from her father, exhausting all his legal options.
Her best friend also made a last-ditch attempt to persuade Castillo to change her mind.
She was first admitted to a hospital in Tarragona following her suicide attempt and later underwent almost two years of intensive neurorehabilitation.
Ten months later, she applied for assisted dying.
In her statement to the court, Castillo said that she was suffering constant physical pain and impacts to her daily life.
The suffering was ruled persistent and incompatible with any significant functional recovery, and euthanasia was granted, despite her father’s opposition, documents show.
Under Spain’s 2021 law, any Spanish adult over 18 requesting euthanasia must be suffering from an incurable disease or “serious, chronic and disabling condition,” and the decision must be taken free of external pressure.
Critics claimed the Spanish state failed Castillo.
“The institutions that should have protected Noelia failed her. I refuse to believe that the state did not have the tools to give her care,” opposition party PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo wrote on social media.
