Press Release
For Immediate Release – 05-14-05 12:00 PM (GMT-5)Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation urges wife of disabled Jacksonville man to err on the side of life
Clearwater, FL – The volunteers with the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, along with the family of Terri Schiavo, are urging Jacksonville, Florida resident, Eliza Thomas, to allow her 34 year old husband to live.
The Foundation has learned that Scott Thomas suffered brain injury in September of 2004 and has since been incapacitated and dependent on others. His mother, Pamela Patton, has petitioned the courts for guardianship of the disabled man and was awarded a temporary guardianship which could expire as early as June 3, 2005. Mr. Thomas’s wife, Eliza, is currently seeking to take his guardianship over.
Ms. Patton is currently pursuing neurological testing and treatment options with a Clearwater, Florida neurologist, Dr. William Hammesfahr.
Mrs. Thomas, however, has reportedly stated that her intention is to move her husband to the Community Hospice of Northeast Florida and seek the authority to direct the removal of his gastric feeding tube, causing his death by dehydration and starvation.
According to Ms. Patton, her son speaks a limited vocabulary, gives affirmative and negative hand signals and has successfully answered questions of where he lives, where he attended school and his situation. She states that he is aware and oriented.
The volunteers of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation are urging Florida’s Department of Children and Families (Florida’s social services agency) to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr. Thomas’s injuries and to ensure that he is not currently a victim of abuse and neglect.
Terri Schiavo’s family is asking Mrs. Eliza Thomas to err on the side of life. According to them, the dehydration and starvation death suffered by their daughter in March of this year was anything but a peaceful and painless death.
Statement of Bob Schindler, Terri Schiavo’s father:
The suffering our daughter endured and her death over the course of nearly two weeks was horrific. I am pleading with Mrs. Thomas to please reconsider her decision to seek the removal of Scott’s feeding tube and to allow him to receive the therapy and rehabilitation he needs to improve. I beg Mrs. Thomas to give her husband a chance.###
Thank you for posting Scott Thomas' article here. The wife appears eager to get to the reading of the will.