Víctor Escobar, the first to receive euthanasia in Latin America without a terminal illness, dies in Colombia

Víctor Escobar, a 60-year-old man from Cali, Colombia, died this Friday after he was granted euthanasia in the first case in Latin America of a person who does not suffer from a terminal illness.

His lawyer, Luis Giraldo Montenegro, made the announcement this Friday night: "You are a warrior," he said.

“Thanks to all Colombians who in one way or another gave us the support and confidence to continue with our struggle.

Blessings and hugs in general, I love you all very much and I do not say goodbye but see you later, "Escobar said this Friday at a meeting with his family and his lawyer hours before.

["We must end this torture": these people want to die but do not let them]

After saying goodbye to his three children, wife, brother and cousins ​​with a lunch, Escobar entered the clinic where the procedure was to be administered around 4:00 p.m. ET, according to Giraldo.

“They have told me that the procedure is going to be a slow sedation first, so that I have time to say goodbye.

.

I trust in God that all this is like that, ”he said in an interview with The Associated Press news agency on Thursday.

Víctor Escobar rests at home after an interview in Cali, Colombia, on Thursday, January 6, 2022. Ivan Valencia / AP

He himself chose the date to die

: after Christmas and New Year's so that his relatives could have a quiet time.

"I have always wanted a Friday night, so that the body is delivered on Saturday and the wake at my parents' house and on Sunday either the normal burial for cremation," said Escóbar, as collected by the Colombian media Week.

He had lived with many health complications for the past 30 years

.

He suffered two strokes, a chronic lung disease known as COPD, high lung pressure, diabetes, and hypertension, among other conditions.

For 11 years he had been connected to two artificial respirators that kept him alive and allowed him to express just three or four words before losing his breath.

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Colombia decriminalized euthanasia in 1997, but only for terminally ill patients;

that is, those who have less than six months to live.

Despite having sought for more than two years a legal way to obtain euthanasia, the authorities had denied it twice because his conditions were degenerative but not terminal.

[Denying Martha Sepúlveda a dignified death is "disrespectful" and "illegal": the family of the Colombian woman who asks to die reacts]

However, a ruling by the Constitutional Court in July 2021 opened the door for cases like Escobar's: people who suffer from intense physical or mental suffering due to a serious and incurable disease. 

"A person cannot be forced to continue living when he suffers from a serious and incurable disease that causes intense suffering, and has made 

 argued the magistrates in sentencing.

"We managed to win the battle, a battle that opens the doors for the other patients who come after me and who at this moment want a dignified death," Escobar declared this Friday before leaving for the clinic.

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The consummation of Escobar's euthanasia evokes the case of Martha Sepúlveda, a Colombian woman who suffers from amorphic lateral sclerosis and who also wishes to obtain a dignified death.

Sepúlveda had everything scheduled to die, he had even chosen the date, but his procedure was abruptly canceled after his case acquired national and international notoriety.

The health center where the procedure had been scheduled did not even offer an explanation, which left Sepúlveda in

his son, Federico Redondo, told the Colombian media.

After filing a lawsuit against the clinic, a judge in Colombia ruled that Sepúlveda's wish for a dignified death must be respected and ordered that the procedure be resumed at a date and time agreed upon by both parties.