Photo caption, Ana Estrada suffered from polymyositis, a rare and degenerative disease.Article information
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April 22, 2024
Ana Estrada Ugarte died in Peru following undergoing a euthanasia procedure, following achieving that the Peruvian Justice recognized the right to assisted death.
“On Sunday, April 21, 2024, Ana Estrada exercised her fundamental right to a dignified death and agreed to the medical procedure of euthanasia,” the patient’s lawyer, Josefina Miró, reported in a statement.
“Ana died on her own terms, in accordance with her idea of dignity and in full control of her autonomy until the end,” the note adds.
In this way, she became the first patient to die from an assisted procedure in Peru.
Estrada, 47, suffered from polymyositis, a rare, degenerative disease that inflames and weakens muscles.
In 2015, when she began to have difficulty breathing and swallowing, the Peruvian psychologist underwent a tracheostomy and a gastrostomy to be able to breathe and eat.
That circumstance forced her to renounce her autonomy and she was placed under the permanent care of nurses.
In 2019 she opened the blog “Ana seeks a dignified death” and launched a petition for the Peruvian authorities to allow her access to assisted dying.
Finally, the Ombudsman’s Office brought its case before the Judiciary through an amparo action. Estrada’s lawsuit was unprecedented in Peru, where euthanasia was illegal.
In fact, the Peruvian Penal Code punished the “mercy homicide” of an incurable patient with up to three years in prison.
Photo caption, Ana Estrada was left under the permanent care of nurses.
However, on February 23, 2021, the Superior Court of Justice of Lima ordered the Peruvian Ministry of Health to respect Estrada’s will to end his life through euthanasia and that the Penal Code not be applied to him. case, to prevent the professionals who intervened in their treatment from being prosecuted.
That historic decision was ratified by the Supreme Court in July 2022.
The statement released by the lawyer details that the medical procedure was carried out “in accordance with the Dignified Death Plan and Protocol”, approved by the state social security EsSalud.
“Ana left grateful to all the people who echoed her voice, who accompanied her in her fight and who, unconditionally, supported her decision with love and empathy,” the note adds.
The statement especially thanks the “public officials” of the Ombudsman’s Office who promoted his case.
Photo caption, Ana Estrada with one of the nurses who took care of her.
A reason to live
“The search for euthanasia has given me a reason to live,” Estrada told BBC Mundo in an interview in January 2020.
She said that at some point she was so depressed that she wanted to commit suicide.
“I had lost everything. She cried every day. She asked them [a mis padres] ‘help me die’. Imagine asking your parents that,” she said.
“But I was recovering and that’s over. When I became more lucid, I decided not to do it. [quitarse la vida], because there was a lot of risk, for my environment, for my family. “It would have been a death in hiding, lonely, painful, with fear,” he stated.
For this reason, he decided to demand that he be allowed access to euthanasia.
“For me, having a decent life is having freedom, autonomy, decision over yourself. “I want to have control of my time, of my body, to be able to choose when to die, because it is regarding the freedom to choose,” he said.
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