Posted on 03/28/2005 6:41:56 PM PST by Former Military Chick
PINELLAS PARK - Jennifer Johnson, barefoot and in her pajamas, ran to her grandfather's bedside once a hospice worker said his death was moments away.
She got there - one minute too late.
Johnson said the chaos surrounding the hospice where Terri Schiavo lies dying kept her from saying goodbye. When Johnson arrived, a police officer demanded identification; she had none. And after a hospice employee cleared her, another officer halted her for a metal-detecting search.
The delays lasted three to four minutes - the last minutes of her grandfather's life.
"It's a terrible, extra obstacle to put in front of a family. . . . Everything is about Schiavo," Johnson said. "It's all about her and in my family's case, it cost us dearly."
Woodside Hospice has 70 patients in addition to Schiavo, whose parents have been desperately trying to have her feeding tube reinserted. Dozens of protesters have arrived from around the nation since the tube was removed March 18; at least 22 have been arrested, prompting a police barricade around the facility and unprecedented security measures.
Family members visiting patients must pass through a police checkpoint to park, then show identification outside the door before another security screening inside. They also must walk by scores of signs decrying Schiavo's "crucifixion," "torture" and "starvation," plus navigate around hordes of media who have been camped outside the facility.
"To have to maneuver through all of this and have a hostile environment outside when all they want is peace and quiet and to enjoy those few days they have left with a loved one is a horror," said Dr. Morton Getz, executive director of Douglas Gardens Hospice in Miami.
Getz said many people with a family member in a hospice have to make the same excruciating decision that courts have made for Schiavo.
"It's causing a lot of grief and questions in their own mind on whether they did the right thing," he said. "It's unconscionable to have a family member to be near the end stages of life and to get there, you have to walk through signs that say, 'Murderer.' "
Most protesters direct their signs and their chants against the courts and Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband who insists she would not want to be kept alive artificially. But walking through a hostile environment can only add stress to what's already an emotionally draining situation.
"It probably has the same psychological effect on the residents' families as it does on someone who is walking into an abortion clinic and facing signs and aggressive behavior," said Elizabeth Foley, a Florida International University law professor who specializes in bioethics. "And unfortunately, that is the price you have to pay in a free society."
Over the past few days, as Schiavo's parents' attempts to have their daughter's feeding tube reinserted repeatedly failed, signs outside the hospice have grown more desperate. Messages compare Michael Schiavo to the likes of Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his wife and unborn child in California, and John Evander Couey, who has been arrested on charges of kidnapping and murdering a 9-year-old girl in Homosassa.
I have to tell you, it is sad what all of these protesters are doing to the other end of life patients who go to a hospice for medical care and comfort and for some in their last days.
They have been short changed for sure.
ping
I understand why someone would be upset, but it is misplaced anger. It is not the protestors who are the problem here.
Instead, she should be angry that a corrupt judge has sentenced a disabled woman to death by starvation.
yeah...that was too bad....posted on it over the weekend...poor gal didn't have her ID with her which magnified the situation as well.......
Thanks for this post. I agree with your concerns...
I understand that, but Terri did not deserve to be starved to death.
Judge Greer and Michael Shiavo are to blame. It is because of them, that people NEED to protest.
with all due respect.....the judge didn't order them there.....it was media driven but also the chaos of the protestors as well........it became a feeding frenzy by Sunday with Communist groups moving in and Randall Terry bullhorning his way to more lunacy
I guess you'll try to make any ludicrous argument to kill her, won't you.
The Schindlers have asked to protesters to disperse. That would be the best move for the pro-life groups at this point.
I beg your pardon?
Absolutely.
I can also understand why these families with a loved one in the hospice are upset...I was able to be with both my parents when they died, right up until the last minute...I always felt, that I held their hand in the last minutes of their lives, and once they died, I symbolically passed their hand into the hand of God...those last minutes mean so very, very much...its really a shame that these families are missing that experience...
It may be a side issue so to speak, but, there are many others who are deserving of the care that they pay good money for. With all the excitment and media focused on one of the patients while noble obviously is causing great frustration amongst other's residing in the facility.
Terri S.'s plight is a higher order problem. The protesters object at the imposition of an "end of life" circumstance upon Terri S. She's being starved to death at the hospice facility. Serenity would be unjust.
From his book:
Chapter Eight, “Soul-Speak”
“As I continued to stay beside Mrs. Browning at her nursing home bed, I felt my mind relax and my weight sink into the ground. I began to feel light-headed as I became more reposed. Although feeling like I could drift into sleep, I also experienced a sense of heightened awareness. As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it and would respond to the unfortunate resident. In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning. I felt the mid-section of my body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, ‘Why am I still here … why am I here?’ My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked in her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. With that the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again, the room resumed its normal appearance, and Mrs. Browning, as she had throughout this experience, lay silent.” (73)
What a nut!! He thinks people like Terry Shindler are talking to him in his mind. Asking him to kill them.
I said:
I guess you'll try to make any ludicrous argument to kill her, won't you.
Am I mistaken as to your opinion? Or do you actually support the demonstrators and their views?
You keep reposting articles tonight, evidently because they favor those who think murder is delightful. Why don't you wait for some fresh ones to come along? You may be sure, it won't be long til your friends in the media oblige you.
Well, all these people want is for her to die faster, so they don't have to be bothered with it anymore.
I believe we will have to agree to disagree. What every I might say will be ignored. Glad that you took the time to read the article and post a comment, though.
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