Sounds like my dearly beloved son, but a vegetable he is not...he was made in the image of God, not a salad. He is a happy little fella and I thank God for the privilege and honor to be his mom. Even with a feeding tube he probably will not live an average lifespan and I know mine, my dh and his siblings hearts will be broken should he pass before any of us.
God allowed my son to be disabled for His purposes. Once you stop kicking against the pricks you can behold much more of life circumstances than you would ever imagine.Our little guy may not be able to learn much but he gets an honorary PHD for what he has taught us.
Praise be to God alone!
Joh 9:1 And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from [his] birth.
Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
" An essential feature of support for the inalienable right to life, from conception to natural death, is the effort to provide legal protection for the unborn, the handicapped, the elderly, and those suffering from terminal illness. What is at stake here is nothing less than the indivisible truth about the human person on which the Founding Fathers staked your nation's claim to independence. The life of a country is much more than its material development and its power in the world. A nation needs a "soul"."
John Paul II - October 2, 1998
Ad limina address of the Holy Father to US Bishops of California, Nevada and Hawaii
Terri was hooked to one feeding tube. Her husband denied her any recourse to all therapy that would have benefited her - from day one. He has given no documented proof to support his allegation that "she wanted this". He has surrounded himself with the a team of professionals with a consistent track record in support of eliminating life for those who are disabled.
Terri's family are all catholic. They believe in the sanctity of life, "from conception til death from natural causes". Death by starvation and dehydration is cruel and inhumane. Guards are posted at Terri's room to prevent her parents from giving her food or water. Terri, although disabled, is not in a coma. She is not in a vegetative state. She laughs, and cries, she says yes and no. Terri Schindler-Schiavo does not want to die. She would like to go home. And she tried to convey this to her father in no uncertain terms by sitting bolt upright and trying to get out of her chair when told she might be killed.
Easy for you to cast judgement, sitting in your easy chair. Perhaps, like her husband, you are wondering "When will the bitch die?". He's sitting on a $750,000 settlement, of which he has spared not one dime, to help his wife. Instead, he has set up house with another woman, fathered one child and is expecting another.
Here is what Terri Schiavo is now facing, alone in a room in a Florida hospice.
"A conscious person would feel it (dehydration) just as you and I would. They will go into seizures. Their skin cracks, their tongue cracks, their lips crack. They may have nosebleeds because of the drying of the mucous membranes, and heaving and vomiting might ensue because of the drying out of the stomach lining. They feel the pangs of hunger and thirst. Imagine going one day without a glass of water. Death by dehydration takes ten to fourteen days. It is an extremely agonizing death."
Yes, you would choose THIS death over life with a feeding tube. I pray it never happens to you or a member of your family.