This is the heartbreaking moment a woman was denied a final visit with her best friend, who was euthanised yesterday in Spain.
Noelia Castillo, 25, from Barcelona, died on Thursday at the Sant Pere de Ribes assisted living facility after courts overruled her father’s efforts to stop the procedure.
A video from Spanish outlet OK Diario shows her tearful friend, Carla Gutierrez, begging two police officers to let her see Castillo one last time.
‘I need to see her,’ she is heard pleading, ‘When they moved her to a different school we lost contact, I knew nothing about her, please.’
The officers, however, refused the request, stating it was outside their jurisdiction and telling the friend she must respect Castillo’s choice
In an interview with OK Diario, Gutierrez explained that she and Castillo attended high school together until they lost contact when Castillo moved to a different centre.
‘I wanted to see her [Castillo] to see if she changes her mind, or at least to say goodbye,’ she told a reporter, ‘I even brought my daughter who is also in a wheelchair.’
Gutierrez added that she wrote Castillo a letter which she hopes her friend reads before the euthanasia takes place.
‘I want to see if I can go in, even if it’s just me, to see if I can convince her [to change her mind],’ she said.
Before she was euthanised in a procedure which began at 6.30pm local time, Castillo is said to have asked her family to spend extra time with her.
Loved ones were due to leave her alone with a medic who administered her three injections at around 5.30pm but stayed for at least another half an hour.
She was alone in the room when she died at her own request, apart from the doctor administering her injections.
Castillo passed away around 20 minutes after receiving the first of the injections.
The case was closely followed in Spain. Castillo’s young age, the public battle waged by her family to stop her and the circumstances that led her to seek euthanasia animated public opinion as the courts ultimately ruled in favour of her right to end her life.
The 25-year-old had been left paraplegic after jumping from a roof in a 2022 suicide attempt following a gang-rape by three strangers in a nightclub.
Prior to her suicide attempt in 2022, the young woman had reportedly already attempted to take her own life through drug overdoses and self-harm.
Castillo also suffered from borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder with paranoia and suicidal ideation, leading to severe mood swings and instability.
Her request for euthanasia was approved by an independent body in Catalonia made up of doctors, lawyers and bioethics experts in July 2024 based on assessments that evaluated her condition as serious and incurable, and that she had severe, chronic and debilitating suffering.
Her father Geronimo Castillo sought to block her euthanasia through the courts, arguing against her right to die, but she accused him of failing to respect her wishes.
‘He hasn’t respected my decision and he never will,’ Castillo said in her final interview with Spanish TV broadcaster Antena 3.
Spain is one of few countries to legalise euthanasia following a 2021 law that comes with strict requirements.
It stipulates that anyone of sound mind who is suffering from a ‘serious and incurable illness’ or a ‘chronic and disabling’ condition can request assistance to die.
The father had said his daughter suffered from mental disorders that ‘could affect her ability to make a free and conscious decision’ as required by law.
He also said there were indications she had changed her mind and that her ailment did not entail ‘unbearable physical or psychological suffering’.
Despite the intense legal fight, Castillo herself contacted Antena 3 after learning the date of her euthanasia to leave a final message.
‘I want to go now and stop suffering, period. None of my family is in favour of euthanasia. But what about all the pain I’ve suffered during all these years?’ she said.
‘The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister’, she said, referring to her family members, ‘cannot be more important than the life of a daughter’.
‘I’ve finally done it. Let’s see if I can finally rest because I can’t take this family anymore, the pain, everything that torments me from what I’ve been through,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be an example for anyone, it’s simply my life, and that’s all.’
Christian Lawyers, the ultraconservative Catholic organisation which has been representing Castillo’s father, said last night: ‘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.
‘We urge politicians to use her story to drive urgent changes and prevent something like this from happening again.’
