She was 31 years old when she fell off a cliff in the municipality of Teguise and suffered a spinal cord injury that left her paraplegic and caused damage to her bladder and intestines. Now, four years later, a ruling has recognized her right to receive aid for "severe disability." In this way, in addition to receiving a Social Security benefit for permanent disability, she will also be able to receive a supplement to cover the care she needs.
The ruling concludes that the injuries she suffered "objectively necessitate the assistance of a third person to perform acts as basic as washing, urinating or defecating, as well as the use of a wheelchair to get around." In addition, it adds that "the effort made to adapt to the new situation and the learning to access adapted toilets, showers and bathtubs, as well as for the self-performance of bladder catheterization to urinate and the handling and use of the wheelchair, cannot lead to the conclusion that she is a fully autonomous person."
Therefore, it recognizes her "severe disability" and condemns the National Institute of Social Security "to pay her the corresponding supplement," which amounts to 651.86 euros per month, with the obligation to also apply this payment retroactively, from when the plaintiff first requested this aid and it was denied, in April 2013.
After the accident, which occurred in November 2012, Social Security declared her "absolute permanent disability," granting her a pension of 900.63 euros per month. However, the affected party filed a claim, requesting that additional aid, in order to face the expenses involved in her current situation. Upon seeing her claim rejected, she decided to go to court, which in the first instance did not give her the reason. However, the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia, where she currently resides, has just recognized this right.
