Peru: 47 year old woman with polymyositis becomes country’s first person to die with medical assistance

On 21 April a woman with a rare and incurable disease became the first person in Peru to die with medical assistance, potentially opening the way to legal euthanasia in the South American country.Ana Estrada, a 47 year old psychologist, had polymyositis, which causes muscle wasting, for the past three decades. She spent most of her life in a bed connected to a mechanical respirator, requiring almost daily assistance from a nurse.Estrada still managed to obtain a psychology degree, work as a therapist, and become the face of a movement dedicated to opening the way for other Peruvians with similarly debilitating conditions to die peacefully.“Ana’s legacy will live on in the minds and hearts of many people and in the history of our country,” said Estrada’s lawyer, Josefina Miro Quesada, in a statement on 22 April. “Her struggle transcended our nation’s borders.”1Estrada first went to court in 2016 to fight…
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