A woman claiming to be a friend of gang rape victim Noelia Castillo Ramos was denied entry to a hospital in Catalonia, Spain, as she tried to stop the euthanasia procedure. Carla Rodriguez arrived an hour before Noelia underwent assisted dying on Thursday, but was blocked by security guards and did not get to meet her.
Teary-eyed Carla joined demonstrators outside the hospital, with police holding her at bay. She told reporters: 'I wanted to try and convince her to change her mind.' She claimed to have grown up with Noelia and attended school together before losing contact when Noelia was transferred to a different care facility.
Noelia, 25, had been sexually abused multiple times, including by three males in 2022. She intentionally fell from a fifth-floor building in August that year but survived. She told a euthanasia consultation panel she was in incredible pain and heavily medicating. Her father challenged the decision, delaying it by 18 months, but there is no evidence she changed her mind.
Noelia's mother, Yolanda, stayed by her side despite opposing the decision. 'I’ve been praying and thinking… hoping that at the last moment she’ll say “I regret it”,' she said. But Noelia said she wanted to 'rest' after living in regular pain. Before her death, she stated: 'I want to go now and stop suffering, period.'
Noelia ultimately died after receiving three injections at the hospital. Assisted dying was legalised in Spain in 2021 for people with chronic or invalidating conditions.
