Blanca Fernandez Ochoa She was found on August 4, 2019, more than a week after her disappearance occurred. It was a Civil Guard agent who found the body of an unidentified woman in the Collado del Rey area and shortly after it was confirmed that it belonged to the former skier. The 56-year-old Olympic medalist was last seen on August 24 in the Madrid town of Aravaca. Five days after her, her family, through her daughter Olivia Fresneda, reported his disappearance and since then the search work has intensified. The body of Blanca Fernández Ochoa appeared in Collado del Rey, an area near the Pico de La Peñota (Cercedilla).
The autopsy performed on the Olympic skier’s body revealed that she had traces of pills in her stomach. Forensic experts ruled that the death was not accidental, that it did not occur due to a fall because the body had no bruises or injuries. Furthermore, Blanca carried all the medicines she took to treat her depression. Apparently, the death of her brother Paco three years before plunged her into deep pain from which she never recovered.
As a result of this tragic event, his sister Lola dedicated herself body and soul to taking care of the mental health of athletes. “She decided to commit suicide, and at first it was tremendous and I was embarrassed because we were such a united family…”, confessed the leader of the Blanca and Renfe Foundation during her last conference. «The problem my sister had is that she was ashamed to admit that she had a mental health problem», he stated. «I told her many times, ‘Blanca, let’s ask for help,’ and she told me no, that she was ashamed. “She felt like she was little,” she specified.
«In this country we bury very well, when athletes are active, everyone takes photos with them. And once the spotlights run out, it is very difficult because nothing helps them,” Lola lamented during her talk. “It’s a drama that I still have a hard time talking about, about my sister’s health and how her final ended and her suicide,” she admitted. Now, what she regrets most is not having insisted more on her sister to seek help to solve her problem: “I respected her decision, and it is the only thing I regret now, not having led her by the ears.” », she said, visibly excited.
