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She Had Euthanasia Approved For Four Years. Then Strangers Changed Her Mind
María Consuelo Córdoba had already been given permission to die when something unexpected happened. After 26 years of living with devastating injuries from an acid attack, 87 surgeries, financial hardship and a daily struggle to survive, the 58-year-old Colombian woman had reached the point of asking for euthanasia. Then strangers began stepping in with the help she had spent years trying to find, including offers of reconstructive surgery and a permanent place to live.
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The change happened within days. A podcast host began making calls after hearing Córdoba’s story, doctors agreed to help with further procedures, and businessman Arturo Calle offered her a studio apartment for the rest of her life. Córdoba’s decision then changed too. “I do want to have my surgery, because I am not going to have any euthanasia,” she said. Behind that sudden reversal was another extraordinary detail: her euthanasia authorization was not issued in September 2026. It had reportedly been sitting in her records since around 2022.
The Acid Attack Happened At Her Own Door
Córdoba was living in Bogotá in 2000 when Dagoberto Ensuncho Sánchez, the man she had been with for nearly 18 years, arrived at her home carrying a container she believed contained aguardiente. Instead, it held acid. “I didn’t know it was acid because he had it in a bottle of liquor,” Córdoba recalled. “When I opened the door he threw the acid at me.” Sánchez ran from the scene while Córdoba went inside and tried to wash the corrosive substance from her face with water. The injuries were catastrophic, permanently changing her appearance and leaving her with severe damage that would require medical treatment for decades.
Córdoba later described the immediate result of the attack in brutally simple terms: “I was left with no nose, no mouth, no chin, nothing.” The physical damage was only the beginning of what followed. She spent years in hospitals and underwent operation after operation as surgeons attempted to reconstruct parts of her face and restore functions damaged by the acid. The treatment became a defining feature of her life, with the number of procedures eventually reaching 87 by her own account and the reporting supplied for this story.
The attack also left Córdoba facing a future in which even basic independence became difficult. She eventually required two plastic tubes fitted into her nose to breathe, while a small opening remained where her mouth had once been. She made a mask herself to cover some of the scarring. After years of treatment, she was told that further procedures would fall into the category of plastic surgery and would have to be paid for privately, leaving her facing an impossible financial problem.
87 Surgeries Still Left Her Waiting For More
Córdoba’s medical history is extraordinary because the 87 operations did not mark the end of her treatment. They represented years of attempts to repair damage that could not simply be reversed with one procedure. She spent extended periods in burn units and underwent repeated reconstructive work, but serious problems remained. The treatment available through the public system eventually reached its limit, while the procedures that could potentially improve her condition became expenses she could not afford.
She remembered being told at the hospital that there was little more the institution could provide. “At the hospital they told me, you can’t have surgery here anymore because we’ve already done it all. The ones that are left are plastic surgery. And plastic surgery costs money, and where am I going to get that,” she said. The statement captured the problem that had followed her for years. She still needed medical care, but the treatment she was seeking had moved beyond what she could access through the system supporting her.
Her financial circumstances made the situation even harder. Córdoba rented a room in Bogotá for roughly half a million pesos a month and raised money by asking strangers for coins at places including the Paloquemao and Restrepo markets and on TransMilenio buses. Her days became focused on collecting enough money to pay for somewhere to sleep. After more than two decades of surgery and recovery, she was still struggling to secure the basic stability that could have allowed her to focus on treatment.
Her Attacker Was Gone While She Was Still Fighting
Córdoba has said the violence began before the acid was thrown. She described Sánchez as someone who would come home drunk and try to hit her, adding another layer to the history surrounding the attack. After throwing the acid, he disappeared while she remained in hospital receiving treatment. Córdoba said he eventually went to Chocó, where he stayed for more than a year before authorities caught up with him.
“When I got out of there I reported him and he vanished into Chocó,” Córdoba said. She later said she was told Sánchez had received a four-year sentence. But according to her account, he did not ultimately remain behind bars for that period and returned to Cartagena. Córdoba believes he is living there now, while she continues dealing with the physical consequences of what happened to her more than two decades ago.
The contrast has remained a painful part of her story. While Córdoba underwent dozens of operations and struggled to pay rent, the man she identified as responsible for the attack was, in her account, able to resume his life. She spent years trying to rebuild her face and maintain a basic existence, while the punishment she expected for the attack never seemed to match the damage she was left carrying.
She Once Promised Pope Francis She Would Keep Going
Córdoba’s story also includes an encounter with Pope Francis during his 2017 visit to Colombia. By then, she had already been thinking about euthanasia, according to her account. She said the pope asked her directly whether she would promise not to take the injection, and she told him that she would keep that promise.
Nine years later, her circumstances had become even more difficult. The surgeries she still needed were considered plastic procedures and therefore required money she did not have. Her income came from asking strangers for help, whether in markets or on public transportation, while she continued living in a rented room. The promise she had made in 2017 existed alongside years of suffering that eventually pushed her back toward the question of euthanasia.
Her own assessment of the help she had received was stark. “But you know what? No one has helped me. I’m worse.” The sentence captured the frustration behind her decision to seek euthanasia. Córdoba was not describing a single bad day or a temporary setback. She had spent decades living with injuries, repeated operations and financial insecurity, while the prospect of meaningful reconstruction remained beyond her reach.
Colombia Had Already Expanded Euthanasia Access
Colombia’s euthanasia rules played a central role in Córdoba’s case. The country’s Constitutional Court decriminalized euthanasia in 1997, initially applying the framework to people who were terminally ill. In 2021, the court expanded the circumstances under which euthanasia could be accessed, allowing it for people who were not terminally ill when they experienced intense physical or psychological suffering resulting from bodily injury or a serious and incurable illness.
That change was significant for someone in Córdoba’s circumstances because her condition was the result of severe bodily injury rather than a terminal disease. Her health provider, Capital Salud, confirmed that she had authorization for the procedure and stated that she would continue receiving support with “respect, humanity and dignity.” The authorization therefore gave Córdoba a legal path that did not depend on her being near death from an illness.
But the existence of that authorization did not resolve the circumstances that had brought her to it. Córdoba was still living with severe injuries, limited financial resources and a lack of access to the reconstructive procedures she wanted. Her case therefore became about more than euthanasia itself. It raised a difficult question about what happens when a person seeking an end to unbearable suffering also wants treatment that might make continuing life possible, but cannot afford to obtain it.
A Podcast Host Began Searching For Help
The next major change came after Córdoba’s story reached podcast host Juan José Castro. Rather than simply discussing her situation, Castro began contacting people who might be able to help her obtain the treatment she had been unable to afford. Within days, his efforts produced an answer that Córdoba had been waiting years to hear: assistance was being arranged for two additional reconstructive procedures.
The planned operations involved her nose and mouth, two areas that had remained severely affected since the acid attack. Those were precisely the kinds of procedures she had previously been told would require money beyond what she could pay. On September 5, 2026, Castro announced that support had been secured, creating an entirely different possibility for Córdoba.
Her response was immediate and clear. “I’m very happy, very glad about those angels they found for me. I do want to have my surgery, because I am not going to have any euthanasia.” After years of speaking about the possibility of ending her suffering, Córdoba was now saying she wanted to pursue another operation instead. The shift did not come after her circumstances improved gradually over years. It happened after people began offering concrete help.
A Permanent Home Changed The Picture Again
Another offer followed when Colombian clothing businessman Arturo Calle heard about Córdoba’s situation and contacted a radio program to offer assistance. He later met her on September 8 and committed to providing a studio apartment for her to live in for the rest of her life. The housing would be arranged through his foundation or the Minuto de Dios charity, alongside monthly financial support and help pursuing her remaining surgeries.
Calle described their meeting positively, saying, “With Consuelo we have had a good time, we have laughed a lot.” The offer addressed one of the most basic problems Córdoba had faced for years. Instead of having to spend her days collecting enough money to cover rent, she would have a permanent place to live and financial assistance while pursuing further treatment.
Córdoba responded with a principle she said she has always followed: “I always say: what is received freely is given freely. If I receive, I share.” The remark offered a glimpse of what she intended to do with the help she was receiving. After years of asking strangers for coins, she was suddenly receiving offers that could affect her medical care, housing and daily security.
Her Euthanasia Approval Was Already Four Years Old
The most striking detail in the story came from the timing of Córdoba’s euthanasia authorization. It had not been granted during the September 2026 events that brought renewed attention to her situation. Capital Salud confirmed that the authorization had already been in place since around 2022, meaning Córdoba had spent roughly four years with a legally approved option available to her.
During that period, she continued living, undergoing treatment and searching for ways to survive financially. She did not use the authorization despite having it. Instead, she continued taking buses, visiting markets and asking strangers for money while waiting for the possibility of further medical treatment. The approval had therefore existed alongside her struggle rather than immediately ending it.
The sequence of events is what makes Córdoba’s decision so striking. When she believed further treatment was inaccessible, euthanasia became the option she was publicly seeking. When surgery became available and a permanent home was offered, she changed her mind. Her case shows how quickly a person’s choices can change when the circumstances surrounding those choices change too.
One Week Put Her Life On A Different Path
Córdoba’s story now involves much more than the euthanasia request that initially drew attention. It includes an acid attack that permanently altered her life, 87 surgeries, years of financial hardship, a disputed account of her attacker’s punishment, and a long search for medical assistance. It also includes a promise made to Pope Francis and an authorization for euthanasia that remained unused for years.
The turning point was remarkably simple: people began offering practical help. Two reconstructive surgeries gave Córdoba another medical option, while the promise of permanent housing removed one of the daily pressures that had consumed her life. The woman who had been asking for euthanasia then said she wanted surgery instead.
For four years, Córdoba had possessed a signed way out. She never took it. When another way forward finally appeared, she chose to keep going.