Chilean girl with illness changes mind about euthanasia

Santiago, Chile: An ailing Chilean girl who made a public plea for permission to end her life has had a change of heart, according to her father.

Fredy Maureira said on Sunday that his 14-year-old, daughter, Valentina, has changed her mind after meeting people who responded to her plea to be euthanised in order to end her suffering from cystic fibrosis.

“Yes, she is thinking about it,” Maureira said.

The girl told the El Mercurio newspaper that “there are people who have led me to change my way of thinking.”

A video in which Maureira asked Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to allow her to be euthanised gained global attention last month after it was posted on YouTube. Bachelet, who is a trained paediatrician, visited the girl and her family but the government said it could not approve her request.

Fredy Maureira said his daughter especially was moved by a visit from an Argentine family whose children have been stricken by the incurable respiratory illness. He said she also was given hope by meeting a patient who has survived beyond age 20.

Valentina’s brother died of the illness when he was six years old.