'I have to spend every day pretending that nothing is wrong, when in reality, even my soul hurts. When you live with constant pain, you live in anger. That's not life.'

These are the heartbreaking words of 28-year-old Ainhoa Caballero Medina, who requested to be euthanised in Spain after she says an attempted murder by her ex-boyfriend left her in chronic pain. 

What followed was a relentless battle with life-changing injuries, including brain damage and the loss of her sense of taste and smell. 

At the same time, she says her local council repeatedly failed her, refusing to recognise her as a victim of domestic abuse, even as her ex-partner continued to threaten her from prison, where he is under provisional detention and subject to a restraining order. 

Unable to escape her physical agony and having lost all hope that the authorities would ever help her, she ultimately sought an assisted death under Spain's euthanasia law. 

Medina's ordeal began two years ago, when she was thriving in her dream job as a head chef and in a relationship with the man she believed she would build a future with. 

But on June 24, 2024, he allegedly tried to kill her, stomping her head on a curb and leaving her for dead in the street.

Speaking to the Daily Mail from her home in Gran Canaria, Spain, Medina recalled the events that changed her life forever.

'Two weeks before June 24, we had an argument and he beat me up,' she said. 'I told people I'd fallen down the stairs, but I ended the relationship.'

She said her former partner, identified in Spanish court documents as Antonio David SM, had previously subjected her to emotional abuse, frequently calling her worthless and making degrading remarks. But she never believed he would become physically violent.

'On June 24, he asked me to come downstairs outside my flat so we could talk,' she recalled. 'When I saw his face, I didn't recognise him. He didn't have to say anything – his face said it all: "I want to kill you."'

'He grabbed me by the neck. He punched me in the neck, the ear and the temple. I tried to run, but he caught me. He's 6ft 5in and I'm very short. He grabbed me by the legs and threw me to the ground.

'Then he slammed my head against the curb. He did it once, and then he did it a second time. After the second time, I couldn't feel my body anymore.

'The last thing I remember is him pinning my head to the ground and stamping on my face. Before I lost consciousness, I heard someone shout: "Stop, man, you're going to kill her!" Then I woke up in hospital.'

Her hospital records from that day show that she had, while barely conscious, lied to medical staff that she had fallen from a height, in an attempt to protect her ex partner, who was later arrested after witnesses gave testimony.

Medical reports confirmed she suffered intracranial hemorrhages, a longitudinal fracture of the left petrous bone and facial paralysis due to the attack. Her recovery process lasted 301 days.

'I suffered brain damage and developed a severe infection that kept getting worse. Doctors had to cut open my neck to insert a drain from my head, and they also placed tubes in my ear and under my tongue. I underwent several botched operations.' 

The attack left her with severe headaches, amnesia and, most devastatingly, the loss of her sense of smell and taste – an unimaginable blow for someone who had built her career as a chef. 

Despite everything she had already endured, Medina claims she was further mistreated by a social worker at her local council's Women's Centre.

Medina recalled being forced to go to the council while ill and gasping for breath, only to be told she was not eligible for any benefits or assistance.

'When I asked for help as a battered woman, I was told I did not meet the criteria of a "battered woman" because I have a job,' she said. 'If I don't meet the criteria of a "battered woman", who does?'

She was also denied disability, and the National Social Security Institute (INSS) has since informed her that she is fit to return to work.

'They expect me to go back to work. But I have post-traumatic stress disorder. I've lost the hearing in my left ear, as well as my sense of smell and taste. I also have injuries to my head as a result of what that man did to me,' she said.

'If I had to go back to work, it would be a disaster. I need fentanyl to manage the pain, but I can't work while I'm on it. I have no sense of smell, and in a kitchen, that puts both me and other people at risk.'

Alongside the chronic pain and what she describes as a lack of support from her local council, she says her ordeal has continued, claiming her ex-partner is still able to contact her from behind bars.

'He gets hold of mobile phones in prison and constantly calls me from private numbers,' she said. 

'If I answer, he tells me, "I know where you are", just to frighten me. He also masturbates during the calls and sends me threatening messages demanding that I respond.

'He contacted me once in a call which I reported for breaching the restraining order. I kept asking, "Who is this?" because I was recording the call so I could report him.

'He said: "Come on, answer the video call. You're never going to forget my face anyway. The only shame is that I left you with injuries instead of finishing what I started."

'I honestly don't think he feels any remorse. I think the only thing he regrets is that I survived. I'm convinced he wishes I hadn't.'

Having lost hope in authorities and living with constant pain curbed only by morphine and fentanyl that leaves her feeling 'like a zombie for days', Medina decided to apply for euthanasia.

Explaining the reasoning behind her permanent decision, she said: 'If a dog has the right to a dignified death to end its suffering, I believe a person should have that same right.

'It's because of the pain, but I've also lost hope. I always say that at least he tried to kill me directly. But many of the people who have handled my case have done me the same kind of harm in a different way, through their indifference.

'I survived, but I lost my life. I wish I died that day. They're destroying my life little by little.

'They've done nothing but put obstacles in my way. My trial still hasn't taken place because his mother has money and keeps doing everything she can to delay it. Until the trial happens, I can't move on with my life.

'And even if I could, no one can erase what happened to me. The post-traumatic stress and the lasting injuries aren't something that simply disappear.'

She said doctors have already approved the euthanasia, saying that she meets the criteria to access the service, although the procedure cannot go ahead until the remaining formalities are completed in court.

'All I see now are the lasting effects of what happened. I have to spend every day pretending that nothing is wrong, when in reality, even my soul hurts. When you live with constant pain, you live in anger. That's not life.'

When asked if anything would change her mind, she was firm that this was a decision she had made carefully and nothing would deter her.

'We're not talking about a financial problem or something that might get better with time. We're talking about my health, and nobody can give that back to me.'

Before she leaves this world, she says she would like to see Antonio David SM convicted.

'I want him to stay in prison for the rest of his life so he can never hurt anyone else again. I don't want him to ever be free.'

And for the social worker who claimed she did not meet the criteria of a 'battered woman', she has a strong message.

'I'd tell her that if she chose that profession to help people, then that's what she should do. Her job is to support women who come to her for help, not mistreat them.

'After [my ex partner], that social worker is the person who has treated me the worst. She doesn't deserve to hold that position, and I've told her that to her face.

'I have a deep faith in God, and I believe that if she really is as cruel as she has shown herself to be, one day she will lose her job. She has children, and I hope they never have to encounter people as heartless and cruel as she has been.'

She also has a message for other women who find themselves in an abusive relationship.

'To other women, I'd say: report it the first time it happens. Because if someone hits you once, they'll do it again. And the second time, they might not just want to beat you – they might want to kill you.'

For help and support, call the UK's National Domestic Abuse Helpline for free at 0808 2000 247

For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org