Rio Council Confirms Death of Luciana Novaes at 42

Overview

• The Rio City Council confirmed late Monday that Luciana Novaes had died after her medical team activated the brain-death protocol.
• Her family said Wednesday her organs will be donated and invited the public to a farewell at the Municipal Chamber on Monday, May 4.
• Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere decreed three days of official mourning, and council leaders issued tributes to her public service.
• Her assessoria reported a sudden, severe event compatible with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm that led to critical neurological decline.
• Novaes was the first tetraplegic person elected to Rio’s City Council and was credited with nearly 200 laws focused on accessibility and protections for people with disabilities, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups after being paralyzed by a campus shooting in 2003.