Carlos Abarca has always visited his wife regularly, and now that he has retired from the national police force, he is able to come three times a day. He says that caring for her is his whole life.Posted on 02/18/2009 3:33:47 PM PST by wagglebee
SANTIAGO, February 18, 2009 (LifeSitenNews.com) - In a story that stands in stark contrast to the Eluana Englaro and Terri Schiavo cases in Italy and the United States, a Chilean man has been visiting his comatose wife for 17 years, and says he won't give up on her.
Carlos Abarca has always visited his wife regularly, and now that he has retired from the national police force, he is able to come three times a day. He says that caring for her is his whole life.
"My affection will always be focused on her, I have never doubted it," he told the Chilean daily El Mercurio, which broke the story. "I don't seek for more from life than caring for her. There is nothing more to do."
The affection he has for his wife, says Abarca, is "stronger than ever. I want to protect her, care for her, make sure she is well, that she lacks nothing."
Erika Sotelo has been in a coma since 1995, when the anesthesia given to her for a hysterectomy caused her heart to stop beating. By the time doctors revived her, Sotelo's brain had suffered damage due to oxygen deprivation. She has never recovered complete consciousness.
However, her husband has never lost hope in her, and recognizes signs of awareness in his wife, despite doctors' claims that she is in a "vegetative state."
Abarca says that he knows his wife can hear, noting that she stirs when spoken to.
"Sometimes when one speaks to her in her ear she begins to cry, so I have better reason to believe that she can hear. Sure, the doctors always contradict it, but I believe that it is to prevent one from hoping, so that one doesn't delude one's self, but I know better than everyone."
Abarca says he will continue to love his wife, "until God has the last word. In the end, if tomorrow she must go, our conscience will be clear." However, he adds, he is not ready for that yet.
"Many people say, 'you're accustomed to this,' but no, day by day it's different and one can't become accustomed to it. I'm not ready for her to leave."
Latin American news sources reporting on the case have noted the stark difference between Abarca's attitude of patience and commitment, and that of the father of Eluana Englaro, an Italian who recently dehydrated his daughter to death after she fell into a minimally conscious state following a car accident in 1992.
Similarly, Terri Schiavo was starved and dehydrated to death in the United States in 2005 by her husband Michael, who had begun to live with another woman and had obtained a substantial damage award in a malpractice suit related to his wife's case. Schiavo's parents and brother and sister, however, fought to the end for her life, but in the end custody was given over to her husband, who issued the order for the death by dehydration.
Abarca says he will continue to love his wife, "until God has the last word. In the end, if tomorrow she must go, our conscience will be clear." However, he adds, he is not ready for that yet.
Prayers for this wonderful husband!
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If anyone ever deserved a miracle, this guy is high on the list.
Beautiful story.
True love is beautiful to behold!
More power to him.
... in sickness and in health.
This is a beautiful example of unconditional love.
My father has cared for his sweet wife (my stepmother) who has alzheimers, for many years now. Even though she’s been in a care facility for 3 years, his role is caregiver. He leaves for the facility at 8am and gets her ready for the day (bathing, dressing and feeding) and feeds her breakfast, takes her for walks, talks with her, reads to her, feeds her lunch then comes home to do a few things and make dinner for himself. By 4pm he’s back by her side and feeds her supper and gets her ready for bed then is back home by 7:30 or so. That’s love! :o)
praying...
If it was Barack Obama he would probably decapitate her. And if she was an infant you don’t even wanna know what Obama would do.
Wonderful story. Any idiot can handle marriage when it’s all richness, health and good times. The true test of character and the vows is when things aren’t so great.
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Dates don't add up (1995 was 14 years ago), but I still needed tissues anyway.
A very good man! May God bless him and his wife.
Prayers to him. When my grandmother became ill with a stroke; it paralized her and she could not speak. My grandfather kept her with him. They had nurses; because he had a broken hip; but it did not stop him from being active. Even drove a special car. She could follow you with her eyes. This lasted for 7 years until she passed away.
She must be quite a wonderful woman to have earned such deep love from this decent man.
If it is truth that for God to keep from destroying the Earth he must find evidence that one truly good man exists then surely Carlos Abarca has saved the world.
Inspiring! Thanks for posting.
Once again, let me issue the warning that if someone you know or a family member is brought into a hospital in an unconscious state, that they *must* be provided warmed oxygen.
Cold oxygen can dangerously cool the blood flowing to the brain, which can not only make brain damage worse, but might be enough to cause brain damage. If they are already unconscious or in a coma, it could easily put them into an unrecoverable coma.
http://news.healingwell.com/index.php?p=news1&id=534204
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