Student with rare disease starts fundraiser to help her die by euthanasia

Warning: This article contains discussion of assisted dying that some readers may find distressing.

A veterinary student in Brazil has started a fundraiser to help her die by euthanasia as she suffers from a rare disease which cannot be cured.

Carolina Arruda, 27, who lives in the Brazilian city of Bambuí with her 10-year-old daughter and husband, has made the difficult decision to end her life by assisted dying as she suffers from a life-long and incurable condition called bilateral trigeminal neuralgia.

27-year-old Carolina Arruda lives in Brazil with her husband and 10-year-old daughter. (Facebook / Carolina Arruda)

What is bilateral trigeminal neuralgia?

According to the NHS, trigeminal neuralgia is a rare neurological condition which causes short bursts of severe pain in the face.

The pain is caused by pressure on the trigeminal nerve close to where it enters into the brain stem.

The attacks are usually sudden and unpredictable, lasting anywhere between a few seconds to about two minutes and have often been described by suffers as having an 'electric shock' to the face.

It is reported that between four out of every 100,000 people in the world suffer from the condition.

Trigeminal neuralgia affects usually affects one side of the face, however in Arruda's case the pain occurs on both sides.

"A cry for compassion"

Arruda first experienced the pain around 11 years ago, when she just 16 years old.

In order to find some relief from the condition the mother-of-one has undergone four operations, various alternative therapies and made changes to her diet, but has not seen any improvements to her condition.

"Imagine a pain that makes it impossible to speak, smile, eat. It's the simplest things that this pain limits and incapacitates me in a way that I can't describe," Arruda explained to CNN.

Arruda has written on her fundraising page that euthanasia will allow her to die with dignity. (Vakinha)

"I tried several pharmacological treatments, from conventional medications to more experimental options," she added.

"I invested time, money and an immense amount of energy in the search for anything that could alleviate my pain."

After trying to take her own life on two separate occasions, Arruda has now made contact with a charity in Switzerland - one of nine countries which legally allows people to die by euthanasia - with plans to end her life by assisted dying.

In order to make the trip from Brazil, she needs to raise $27,000 (£21,000) to fly out to a clinic and is currently fundraising on Brazilian crowdfunding website Vakinha.

Speaking about the decision to die by euthanasia, Arruda said: "The decision to have euthanasia was the hardest decision and, at the same time, the clearest for me.

"Every day, I tried to find meaning, to find hope, but the pain was always there, without stopping. 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."