BREAKING: Baby Joseph is home: defies critics by breathing completely on his own

LifeSiteNews ^ | 4/21/11 | Rebecca Millette

[wagglebee]

Baby Joseph with his father Moe Maraachli
early this morning as they head home to Windsor, Canada.

WINDSOR, Ontario, April 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Baby Joseph and his family arrived in Windsor, Ontario on a medical transport flight from St. Louis, Missouri this morning. He is now at the family home, according to Brother Paul O’Donnell.

On behalf of Baby Joseph’s family, Brother O’Donnell told LifeSiteNews that that their son was weaned off ventilator support 12 days ago and has been successfully breathing on his own since then.

Baby Joseph, who has been at the center of an international right-to-life debate over the past few months, has defied critics by responding so well to treatment. After the Ontario hospital treating Joseph’s progressive and terminal neurological disease threatened to remove his life support against his parents’ wishes earlier this year, pro-life groups rallied to Joseph’s cause.

With the financial support and assistance of Father Frank Pavone and Priests for Life, Joseph was taken to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri where doctors performed the tracheotomy that Joseph’s parents had been requesting all along.

Sixteen-month-old Baby Joseph received a successful tracheotomy on March 21, responding well to the procedure, which gave him increased mobility and comfort while providing a stable, secure airway. With the tracheotomy, which created an opening into Joseph’s windpipe through an incision in his neck, Joseph’s airway has been kept free from secretions that would have caused him to choke.

Dr. Robert Wilmott, Chief of Pediatrics for SSM Cardinal Glennon and Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said Joseph has been breathing so well on his own there will be no need to take him to a local rehabilitation hospital and he can be transported to Ontario.

“Joseph has been breathing on his own, without the aid of a mechanical ventilator, for more than a week,” Wilmott said. “By providing him with this common palliative procedure, we’ve given Joseph the chance to go home and be with his family after spending so much of his young life in the hospital.”

Meanwhile, Joseph’s parents and 7-year-old brother, who have spent more than a month in St. Louis, have expressed their extreme gratitude to all who have made it possible to save the life of their son.

“So many people from the United States and Canada and all around the world have reached out, sent letters and called my family to let us know they were praying for us and thinking about us,” Joseph’s father Moe Maraachli said. “This has really helped our family through this hard time, to know there is so much kindness in the world.”

“We are so grateful for the amazing care and compassion we have received from the doctors, nurses and staff of Cardinal Glennon. Our family also wants to thank the team at Windsor Regional Hospital for reaching out to our family and Dr. Wilmott and making the transfer back home a reality.”

Commending the staff at Cardinal Glennon, Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life said Joseph has defied so many critics.

“Our mission to save Baby Joseph and help his family was never based on any prediction of the future, but rather on the value of his life here and now. Our critics, on the other hand, looking into the crystal ball that ‘right to die’ advocates seem to always think they have, claimed our intervention was futile because Joseph would only end up having a machine do his breathing for him,” said Fr. Pavone.

“We don’t have to answer their criticism; Joseph is doing that for us, with every breath he takes,” continued Fr. Pavone. “Baby Joseph’s victory over the culture of death is especially powerful now, as we prepare for Easter, a time when Christians everywhere celebrate Jesus’ victory over death.”

“Priests for Life is happy and humbled to have played a small part in making this joyous day possible. We ask everyone to join us as we continue to pray for Baby Joseph and his family.”

[kaila]

Would you put a trach down a patient with terminal lung cancer? I would not.
Take a look at the picture- this baby looks to have severe brain swelling.
As far as I am concerned, if you want to pay for it- good for you.
Just leave the taxpayer out of it.

[kaila]

Would you put a trach down a patient with terminal lung cancer? I would not.
Take a look at the picture- this baby looks to have severe brain swelling.
As far as I am concerned, if you want to pay for it- good for you.
Just leave the taxpayer out of it.

[kaila]

Toward recovery? This baby is not going to recover.

[Joe 6-pack]

"I wonder, has there EVER been a case of someone with no brain function breathing on their own?"

Are you familiar with the Democratic Party?

[wagglebee]

Would you put a trach down a patient with terminal lung cancer? I would not.

What does lung cancer have to do with anything? Baby Joseph doesn't have lung cancer.

Take a look at the picture- this baby looks to have severe brain swelling.

A few weeks ago you were saying that Baby Joseph had no brain function. Which is it?

As far as I am concerned, if you want to pay for it- good for you. Just leave the taxpayer out of it.

Taxpayers were NEVER being asked to pay for this. YOU were simply trying to employ the culture of death's evil agenda by trying to make money an issue.

Is it so hard to admit you were wrong? You went on for days about how Baby Joseph had no brain function, how a tracheotomy was torture, how it was a waste. YOU WERE WRONG! Baby Joseph is AT HOME, BREATHING ON HIS OWN.

I also wonder, why won't you call him Baby Joseph? Is he just not a human in your eyes?

[floriduh voter]

According to his dad, Baby Joseph “looks like a real baby now”. Well, gee, I thought he went home to die. That hospital in Canada were a bunch of serial liars.

[floriduh voter]

FR is infiltrated with a handful of DEATHBOTS.

[floriduh voter]

Canadian hospital: LIARS. OBAMACARE: Lies for Americans.

[trisham]

This from someone who “cares” for the ill and helpless. God help them.

[metmom]

Imagine that.

Baby Joseph didn't die like they expected wanted him to.

[EternalVigilance]

Toward recovery? This baby is not going to recover.

Hate to disabuse you of your fondest illusions, but you're not God.

[kaila]

Look at the picture- either this baby is getting a whole boatload of steroids, has hydrocephalus, or a combination of both.
This baby is not going to recover.
The death process is just going to be more prolonged.

[wagglebee]

Toward recovery? This baby is not going to recover.

A month ago you were saying that Baby Joseph had "no brain function" and that a tracheotomy was "torture."

Baby Joseph is now BREATHING ON HIS OWN.

Why should anyone give a damn about your opinion?

You COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG.

[trisham]

It bothers you that this baby isn’t dying quickly enough?

[kaila]

It is torture in that this baby is getting poked and prodded.
No dignity to his body.
But, if you want to pay for it ( not the taxpayer), then fine.

[Texas Eagle]

Once our version of Canada’s health care system if fully implemented, where will future Baby Joseph’s go for life-saving treatment?

[BykrBayb]

Why are you still trying to justify killing Baby Joseph? What threat does he pose to you?

[wagglebee]

It is torture in that this baby is getting poked and prodded.

Here are YOUR OWN WORDS AGAIN:

Family Appealing Hospital's Decision on Baby Joseph's Life

02/28/2011 9:38:16 PM PST · 17 of 19
kaila to jenbean

The baby is going to suffocate to death anyway.
A ventilator only prolongs the death.
Many a baby dies on a ventilator.
Eventually, the body gives up, pumonary resistence increase, you pump in higher flow rates of 02, and the baby eventually dies.
This is not compassion, it is torture.

Baby Joseph’s lawyer dropped from case: prayer vigils planned

03/02/2011 7:11:48 AM PST · 16 of 105
kaila to Dr. Brian Kopp

“Justice Rady’s decision was based on doctors’ testimony that he is in a permanent vegetative state with no brain stem reflex.”

I do not believe you are a medical doctor. Please read the above sentance again.
Do you know what loss of brain stem function is?
Please go back to medical school.
The baby needs a ventilator to breathe. Quit fudging the facts.

Baby Joseph’s lawyer dropped from case: prayer vigils planned

03/02/2011 4:11:07 PM PST · 40 of 105
kaila to Dr. Brian Kopp

Please read the report by the medical board.

http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onccb/doc/2011/2011canlii7955/2011canlii7955.html

I am not sure how to copy and paste to the FR site, but this report is very detailed. This baby has no brain function.

Fight for another cause. There are a lot of children out there who need help and support. Help and support with medical bills, etc. Fight for them.

A month and a half ago you wanted Baby Joseph dead, you claimed that the ventilator was torture -- now he doesn't even need it.

No dignity to his body.

Ah yes, the "dignity" that death mongers believe only comes when an innocent person is killed.

What about dignity for YOU? Would it be so hard to admit that you were wrong or to just ignore the thread? You probably don't realize it, but you are embarrassing yourself.

But, if you want to pay for it ( not the taxpayer), then fine.

Baby Joseph's care was paid for by private donations, this was explained to you over a month ago.

[wagglebee]

I imagine that there will be an exodus of doctors to the Caribbean and Central America and wonderful hospitals will be built there that cater primarily to Americans and Canadians.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

So, Kaila, I ask again...where did you go to medical school? And why are you so adamant that this baby, Baby Joseph, be killed?