Rome, Italy, Feb 9, 2009 / 14:20 pm
The 38 year-old Italian woman who was in a coma and whose father had waged a battle in the courts to disconnect her feeding tube and euthanize her died today at 8:10 p.m. local time.
Four days after her food and water were withdrawn, amidst a divisive debate throughout the country over the passage of a law that could have saved her, Eluana Englaro died at the La Quiete Hospital in Udine.
According to La Repubblica, upon learning of the news via telephone of his daughter’s death, Beppino Englaro said, “Yes, she has left us. But I don’t want to say anything else, I want to be alone.” Mr. Englaro led the fight to have her daughter’s feeding tube disconnected and bring about her death. He also had taken Eluana to the hospital in Udine where her food and hydration were withdrawn.
The director of the La Quiete Hospital, Ines Domenicali, confirmed that Eluana had died. “She’s dead. I don’t know what time it was, don’t ask me any more questions.” Outside the hospital where she was taken after being removed from the care of a group of the Sisters of Mercy in Lecco, some 200 people had gathered to pray for Eluana.