Posted on 04/07/2005 2:59:57 AM PDT by schmelvin
For Immediate release! To: All media, and supporters of life. From: The Family of Mae Magouirk Date: April 6, 2005 Contact: Kenneth Mullinax - Mockingbird@compuhelp.net
Shiavo case revisited in Georgia
Mae Magouirk…not comatose …not vegetative …not terminal
Why is Hospice LaGrange, Ga. withholding nourishment?
(LaGrange, Georgia) Mae Magouirk is being withheld nourishment and fluids and the provisions of her Living Will are not being honored at the Hospice-LaGrange, (1510 Vernon Street, LaGrange “Troup County” Georgia, 706-845-3905) a subsidiary of the LaGrange Hospital in LaGrange Georgia. Her family is desperately seeking to save her life before she dies of malnourishment and dehydration.
Mae Magouirk IS NOT comatose and she IS NOT vegetative. She is not terminal!
Despite these facts the Hospice and Beth Gaddy, a school teacher at LaGrange’s Calloway Middle School and granddaughter of Mae Magouirk have been denying her proactive nourishment or fluids (via a nose administered feeding tube or fluids via an IV) since March 28 without prior legal consent; against the wishes of her Living Will and against the wishes of Mae Magouirk’s closest living next of kin. Mae Magouirk’s next of kin are: Mr. A. B. McLeod (Her Brother) and Mrs. Lonnie Ruth Mullinax (Her sister) both of nearby Anniston, Alabama.
Under Georgia law, unless a medical durable power of attorney is in place, your closest living next of kin are stipulated to make all medical decisions. When Mae Magouirk’s closest living next of kin lodged a complaint with Hospice LaGrange’s in-house attorney Carol Todd last Thursday, March 31, Ms. Todd checked Mae Magouirk’s case file and upon examination of both documents discovered that Beth Gaddy DID NOT have the durable medical power of attorney for Mae Magouirk and upon closer examination of Mae Magouirk’s Living Will ascertained that fluids and nourishment were ONLY TO BE WITHHELD if she was either comatose or vegetative. SHE IS IN NEITHER STATE!!!
Nor is Mae Magouirk terminally ill. Her local LaGrange, Ga. cardiologist, Dr. James Brennan and Dr. Raed Aqel, a highly acclaimed interventional cardiologist at the nationally renowned University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center have determined that Mae Magouirk’s aortic dissection is contained and not presently life threatening.
Two weeks ago, Mae Magouirk’s aorta had a dissection and she was hospitalized in the LaGrange Hospital in LaGrange, Ga. Her aortic problem was at first determined to be severe and she was admitted in the intensive care Unit. Her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, a teacher at the Calloway Middle School in LaGrange, stated that she held Mae Magouirk’s medical power of attorney and thus invoked said powers against the wishes of Mae Magouirk’s closest living next of kin by having her moved to Hospice-LaGrange. While at Hospice-LaGrange, Beth Gaddy stated that her wishes were for no nourishment for Mae Magouirk via a feeding tube or fluids via an IV. Before hospitalization Mae was lucid and never had been diagnosed with dementia as was testified to in Probate Court on Monday, April 4, by a local MD.
Page Two Mae Magouirk is being starved to death!
Upon learning from Hospice-LaGrange that Mae Magouirk was being denied nourishment and fluids and upon being told by Carol Todd (Hospice LaGrange’s in-house legal consul) that Beth Gaddy DID NOT HAVE THE PROPER LEGAL AUTHORITY to deny said nourishment AND that the denial of nourishment went against Mae Magouirk’s Living Will, Mae’s family (Mullinax/McLeod) ordered the immediate beginning of such nourishment/fluids for Mae to Hospice via Carol Todd.
First Contact with Hospice on Thursday, March 31 Carol Todd told Mrs. Lonnie Ruth Mullinax (Mae Magouirk’s sister) and Kenneth Mullinax (Mae Magouirk’s nephew) via phone on Thursday, March 31 that Georgia Law stipulated that Mrs. Mullinax and her brother A. B. McLeod (Mae Magouirk’s brother) were entitled to make any and all decisions for Mae Magouirk. Mrs. Mullinax immediately told Carol Todd to insert fluids via an IV and insert a feeding tube, via her nose. Carol Todd had the IV fluids started that evening but told the family that they would have to come to Hospice LaGrange to sign papers to have the feeding tube inserted and because of such, she believed that Mae Magouirk would no longer be a candidate for Hospice LaGrange. She was then told that Mae Magouirk’s family concurred and the ONLY REASON Mae was at Hospice was because the LaGrange Hospital had failed to exercise due diligence in closely examining the power of attorney which Beth Gaddy said she had, as well as executing the provisions of Mae’s Living Will to her preordained stipulations. Gaddy only had a financial power of attorney and did not have a medical power of attorney and Mae Magouirk’s Living Will provided that a feeding tube and fluids SHOULD ONLY BE DISSCONTINUED IF Mae was comatose or in a vegetative state. She was and is in neither state.
Attempt to rescue Mae on Friday denied by Probate Judge Donald Boyd On Friday, April 1, when A. B. McLeod (brother) and Kenneth Mullinax (nephew) showed up to meet with Carol Todd and to arrange emergency air transport of Mae Magouirk to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center (One of the top cardiovascular centers in the USA) Hospice LaGrange stalled them while Beth Gaddy went before Troup County Georgia (LaGrange, Ga.) Probate Judge Donald W. Boyd (who DOES NOT hold a law degree) who granted Beth Gaddy emergency guardianship of Mae Magouirk, giving Beth Gaddy full and absolute authority. Thus, they COULD NOT MOVE HER FOR PROACTIVE MEDICAL CARE Friday because Beth Gaddy had Hospice stop them and then she had Mae’s IV fluid tube pulled out. Beth Gaddy has repeatedly told Mr. McLeod, Mrs. Mullinax and Kenneth Mullinax that she feels they all should let Mae not eat and thus cause her to die because, and we quote Beth Gaddy: “Grandmamma is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus. She has glaucoma, and now this heart problem and who would want to live with disabilities like these?”
As stipulated under Georgia Law, a hearing for an Emergency Guardianship, must be held within 3 days of its request and Mae Magouirk’s hearing was held on this past Monday, April 4, before Troup County Georgia Probate Judge Donald Boyd who favors granting Beth Gaddy permanent guardianship and thus will seal Mae Magouirk’s fate of allowing Beth Gaddy to starve her to death against the wishes of her Living Will and in full knowledge that Mae Magouirk is not terminal, not in a coma and is not in a vegetative state and that medical care at UAB Medical Center is awaiting her. Shiavo revisited!
Mae’s present state and vital signs Mae’s blood pressure is good, averaging 140/82 with a pulse rate of 88. However, since admission to Hospice she has not been lucid but who would be since nourishment and fluids have been denied since March 28, 2005. Also adding to her confusion is that she is off her regular medicines and is on a dose of Adavan and Morphine. Without food or water her electrolytes and body chemistry is not within its proper parameters. If her condition is not given major public attention soon, she will die, not by divine cause but by the omission of assistance by man. WE MUST GET Mae moved to UAB Medical ASAP
Resources: Probate Judge Donald Boyd…Court CASE NUMBER: Estate 138-05 Attorney for saving Mae’s life: Jack Kirby, Kirby & Roberts***
After reading that article, time to pop another frosty one.
In the article, the words that jumped into my heart were,
"Praise be the name of the Lord"
I don't know why. Those words just, I can't really put it into words. I guess they stired me, that is the closest I can come.
Again thanks for posting.
Thanks for all you did helping, ExPat!
For me, I'm listening to happy music, with a smile on my face, tonight for a change! : )
Who hung hiself? Nancy Cruzans father is still alive.
Why Sun, you know you would have to be Press Secretary!!!
You probably know half of them on a first name basis by now, what with all the contacts you have made, fighting the "good" fight
God is to be praised, always; He is King. : )
Does that mean you won't be reading any more stories about people's "private" lives? If you do happen to learn something that you think is too private, what will you do with that information? Once you have the information, you have three choices. Help, hurt, or stay out of the way. What do you think you should do?
AMEN!! : )
"Why Sun, you know you would have to be Press Secretary!!!
You probably know half of them on a first name basis by now, what with all the contacts you have made, fighting the "good" fight"
WOW!!
I got a promotion ALREADY!
Do we know who is associated with the granddaughter (who the 'opposition' is)?
No he isn't. Nancy's father Joe killed himself in 1996.
Nope, Joe Curzan hung himself
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/08-96/08-20-96/b03wn063.htm
"We didn't 'allow' it, we just couldn't stop it."
I understand what you are saying, but I meant 'we' as in our society...collectively.
Ohhkayyyy, so I am on my second cold one, and my spelling will probably deteriorate even more. Just being chatty now.
Were you reading the section of the thread when that Freeper was posting that they didnt' really understand the Press Release and becasue they didnt' understand it, they said,
"I don't really understand it it was very difficult/confusing to read, so I just think it is a private family matter, and I don't feel comfortable about getting involved in a private family matter"
And I replied back that s/he should keep reading it until they understood it. Use your gray cells. Try a little intellectual exercise, that they were being intellectually lazy.
That is the closest I have ever come on FR to dissing somebody. I usually don't mix it up with anybody, I jsut don't respond to people who are confrontational.
I can spot the confontational person pretty qucik and avoid them but I could not keep to myself when I saw passivness. The passivness of "oh it's so hard, I don't get it" jsut drove me nuts. I honestly am amazed at myself for telling that person what I did.
I wish you would jsut go away.
My bad on that you are right. I was thinking of the other father who was in the hospital with his daughter at the same time. Someitmes all the cases blend together.
As soon as it is up and running- I will give you all the details. THis .com- is going to be different than my blog. It is going to be a TEAM EFFORT!
That's a WONDERFUL idea! I would love to be on the team!
I would be happy to take up the task of sending out emails en masse to politicians, government agencies, the media, bloggers, pro-life organizations, etc. each time we get wind of a case like this.
I would be happy to do any on-line research that would help expose the euthanasia advocates and their agenda.
I would be happy to make brief phone calls like I did to Jeb Bush's office in Terri's case, but since I live abroad, I cannot regularly do what I did in Mae's case. I'm going to have a whopping phone bill for making all the calls I did to verify the authenticity of this case. Not that I care; life is priceless. But, it would make more sense to put people who live in the area in charge of that particular task.
Please, let me know what I can do to help. I am not overly technical, BTW. I'm great at finding stuff on google, but I have a lot to learn about researching like a pro. I'm a fast learner and willing to be educated, though.
I have been praying for God to give me a purpose, and I believe this is it. Terri Schiavo's plight and eventual fate had me crying for weeks. I want to fight the euthanasia movement tooth and nail to the bitter end. I do not want to ever become desensitized to this. I don't want to ever shrug my shoulders and say, "It happens all the time; there's nothing I can do about it." Because, there is much we can do about it. We can save lives. We will be up against some very strong opposition, but we must not become discouraged. Every time we save a life, we will have accomplished the greatest of victories.
We will need prayer warriors, researchers, a PR campaign, people who can make phone calls and do footwork, people who can contact the media and our political representatives in any and every way possible. We will need to be able to design and circulate petitions, organize peaceful protests, educate the public, and find a way to wake up the churches so we can get them and their millions of members on board with us.
We can do this. We have done it! Look what FReepers have been able to accomplish over the years. That's why I posted this press release here to begin with. I knew that if anyone could save Mae, it would be FReepers!
Eeevil, sign me up. I want to be a part of this.
Why? Have I done something wrong? Have I asked inappropriate questions? Have I even been rude to anyone? No, I have not. So what have I done other than disagree with you that has got your panties all in a bunch?
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