There’s a disarming chill to seeing one portrait of the late Noelia Castillo that made the rounds once the 25-year-old gang assault victim and suicide attempter became the youngest Spaniard to be euthanized, legally, three weeks ago. Smiling coyly at the camera, her bulging eyes windows into a gentle soul, she appears to dwell in a timeless realm beyond pain and pleasure; her pallor shines a mystical glow, at once ghostly and angelic. Right-to-die advocates touting her ‘victory’ following a two-year lawsuit may be eased by her serene stare. Yet precisely in lieu of the ache and frailty that earned her passage to the afterlife, Noelia here exudes grit and vitality and resolve to overcome and sublimate. Her glare even seems to harbor clues of the life-and-death mystery, a lesson or epiphany she couldn’t have uttered in her earthly torment.
Awakened by Euthanasia?
