OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:47 AM – Friday, March 27, 2026
A young woman who was gang-raped and later became paralyzed after a suicide attempt has died in Spain following a legal battle for the right to euthanasia.
25-year-old Noelia Castillo received a life-ending procedure on Thursday at the Sant Pere de Ribes assisted living facility in the Barcelona province of Spain.
Castillo had stated that the procedure was meant to end the ongoing emotional turmoil she has endured throughout her life, in addition to the more recent trauma she suffered in a horrific sexual assault and subsequent suicide attempt that left her paraplegic.
Castillo reportedly spent much of her childhood in care homes due to her parents’ own mental health issues and her own personal addiction struggles, which she described as “self-medication” for her psychological pain. Castillo’s father’s alcoholism had an extremely negative impact on her own mental health, she further emphasized.
Castillo was reportedly sexually assaulted on two occasions, once by her ex-boyfriend and another time by “three [unnamed] men in 2022” — while she was housed in a state-supervised center for vulnerable youth.
She noted that she decided not to report the latter assault since “it was days before I tried to kill myself.” However, on October 4, 2022, after snorting lines of cocaine, she impulsively jumped from the fifth floor of a building, according to Spanish media outlets.
Castillo suffered a spinal cord injury in the incident, which caused severe nerve pain and incontinence — leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.
“My father saw me fall and couldn’t do anything,” she said, “But after everything he’s done, I don’t feel sorry for him anymore.”
Castillo, who notably suffered from borderline personality disorder (BPD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), giving her intense paranoia and severe mood swings, had reportedly tried to commit suicide on other occasions as well through drug overdoses and self-harm incidents before the 2022 injury.
Nonetheless, in July 2024, her request for euthanasia was approved by an independent body in Catalonia, comprised of doctors, lawyers and bioethics experts. The Spain-based group evaluated her condition and decided that it was serious, chronic and incurable. Castillo’s father, Geronimo Castillo, fought the decision, however. He delayed the suicide procedure with a number of legal challenges, being represented by an organization called Christian Lawyers.
“He hasn’t respected my decision and he never will,” the 25-year-old said of her father in her final interview.
“He wanted to put the house he bought in my name so he could continue collecting child support. After that, he doesn’t want to put the house in my name, or pay for the funeral, or attend the euthanasia, or the burial, and he says he doesn’t want to know anything more about me. That for him, I’m already dead.”
“I understand,” she continued. “He’s a father and he doesn’t want to lose a daughter, but he doesn’t listen to me. He never calls me, he never writes to me. The only thing he does is bring me food. Why does he want me alive? To keep me in a hospital?”
Castillo further emphasized that she felt that no one in her life respected her wish to die.
“I want to go now and stop suffering, period. None of my family is in favor of euthanasia. But what about all the pain I’ve suffered during all these years?” she contended. “I don’t feel like doing anything — not going out, not eating. Sleeping is very difficult for me, and I have back and leg pain.”
“The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister,” she stated, referring to her family members, “cannot be more important than the life of a daughter.”
Castillo also described how she envisioned her last moments in an interview on the Spanish program, “Y Ahora Sonsoles.”
“I’ve told them how I want it to be. I want to die looking beautiful. I’ve always thought I want to die looking good. I’ll wear my prettiest dress and put on makeup; it will be something simple,” she said.
She eventually won the legal battle with her father, which included a last-minute attempt to block the procedure from the European Court of Human Rights that was rejected this week. The court is still expected to rule on whether there was a violation of human rights in this case.
Although the procedure was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. local time, Castillo reportedly spent her final hour pleading for more time with her family. Despite her requests, Castillo was left alone when the doctor finally administered the three-stage injection at 6:30 p.m. She was pronounced dead 20 minutes later, at 6:50 p.m., marking the end of a long and painful legal battle for the right to die.
On Thursday night, the Christian Lawyers group then announced that “Noelia has already been euthanized.”
“At Christian Lawyers, 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 organization stated. “We urge politicians to use her story to drive urgent changes and prevent something like this from happening again. Thanks to everyone who has empathised with the family during these very difficult times. You can understand that the parents are broken after years of trying to support her in her rehabilitation.”
Jose Maria Fernandez, who represents Christian Lawyers, stated at the doors of the hospital, “The legal system has failed. The euthanasia legislation is being applied as an applied suicide law.”
Euthanasia was legalized in 2021 in Spain. Government data suggests that hundreds of requests for assisted dying have been granted in the years following the legislation.
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