A Brazilian veterinary student suffering from a rare disease with no cure plans to be euthanized in Switzerland because the procedure is banned in the South American nation.
Carolina Arruda, 27, from the city of Bambuí, in the southeast of the country, was diagnosed with bilateral trigeminal neuralgia 11 years ago.
Arruda was just 16 years old when she first felt pain while sitting on her grandmother’s couch.
The condition, which affects four in every 100,000 people worldwide, causes extreme pain, which she compares to receiving a 220-volt shock to both sides of the face.
The disease affects the trigeminal nerve, which transmits signals from the face to the brain.
Carolina Arruda, a 27-year-old veterinary student, is raising funds to cover the costs of her trip to Switzerland, where she plans to die by euthanasia. This married woman and mother of a 10-year-old girl was diagnosed with bilateral trigeminal neuralgia 11 years ago.
Carolina Arruda suffers from bilateral trigeminal neuralgia, a condition that affects the trigeminal nerve that transmits signals from the face to the brain. The condition causes pain that she compares to a 200-volt shock on both sides of the face. Chewing food, brushing her teeth, drinking and simply sneezing can cause pain.
Pain can be caused by simply chewing food, brushing your teeth, drinking, or just sneezing.
“Imagine a pain that makes it impossible for me to speak, smile, eat. It’s the simplest thing, that pain limits me and incapacitates me in a way I can’t describe,” Arruda recently told CNN Brazil.
“There are times when all I can do is lie down, curl up in a corner and wait for the pain to go away, but it never really goes away. I live with this pain 24 hours a day.”
Arruda, who last month celebrated her third wedding anniversary with her husband and has a 10-year-old daughter, attempted suicide twice.
She has undergone four operations, tried alternative treatments, improved her diet and exercised.
Not long ago, she began experimenting with cannabidiol. While there was a slight “improvement”, it did not provide her with “complete relief”.
Carolina Arruda made the decision to opt for euthanasia because she believes she has exhausted all the options presented to her by the doctors treating her for bilateral trigeminal neuralgia, a disease that has no cure.
Carolina Arruda said that her “decision to undergo euthanasia was the most difficult decision and, at the same time, the clearest for me.” The practice is prohibited in Brazil, but permitted in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the six states of Australia.
Carolina Arruda with her husband
“I tried several pharmacological treatments, from conventional medications to more experimental options,” she said. “I invested time, money and an immense amount of energy in the search for something that could alleviate my pain.”
Arruda believes she has exhausted all the options offered to her by her medical team and is seeking help from a charity in Switzerland, one of only nine countries in the world that allow euthanasia.
A fundraiser has been started on Brazilian crowdfunding site Vakinha to cover medical and travel costs of more than $27,000.
“The decision to have euthanasia was the most difficult and, at the same time, the clearest for me,” Arruda said. “Even with the support of my family and every chance for a happy life, the constant pain turned my life into a real torment.
“Every day I tried to find meaning, hope, but the pain was always there, non-stop,” she added. “It’s not a lack of love for life or for the people around me, it’s simply a cry for compassion, for a dignified end, you know?”