In a landmark legal case, a British woman paralyzed from the neck down has won the right to die. 

High Court judge, Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, ruled Friday the 43-year-old social worker has the right to tell doctors to switch off her life support facilities. The woman's identity was not named for legal reasons. 

The woman suffered a ruptured blood vessel in her neck a year ago that left her paralyzed and unable to breathe unaided. 

It is the first time in Britain that someone fully conscious and in control of mental faculties has asked doctors to switch off life support. Other cases have involved patients in a permanent vegetative state. 

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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