Posted on 09/01/2005 9:51:24 AM PDT by NYer
TAMPA BAY, August 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Ten year-old Joshua Heldreth, the eldest of eight children, was arrested on Good Friday of this year for trespassing while attempting to bring a drink of water to Miss Terri Schaivo. Days later Schiavo died of intentional dehydration. In court Joshua pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 hours of community service and ordered to write an apology for his actions.
The boy whose arrest photo was splashed on front pages of newspapers across the nation wrote in his apology letter, "I was arrested on Good Friday for trespassing on the hospice center's property . . . Not giving Mrs. Shiavo (sic) food or water was wrong. The reason I had to go on your property was because Jesus would do the same thing. It made me sad that she was so thirsty and it made Jesus sad too. I knew she would die without water and I am called by Jesus to be a defender of the defenceless. So I had to go on your property to try to bring her a drink."
Joshua added, "I am sorry that you didn't like that and wouldn't allow me to help save her life and one day you will have to tell God why. I won't be able to help you then like I tried to help her. I will pray for you every day . . ."
LifeSiteNews.com caught up with Joshua's father Scott Heldreth today. Scott told LifeSiteNews.com he is very proud of his son. "My son has amazed me through this whole thing," said Heldreth. The proud father said it was his son's own initiative to attempt to give the starving woman a glass of water, and despite the warning of his parents that he'd be arrested, the boy insisted. "He was the one who begged us to go down, because he wanted to give her a glass of water . . . We explained that police will never let you help . . . you'll be arrested, but he went anyways."
Pro-life leader Rev. Flip Benham of Operation Save America told LifeSiteNews.com that the whole pro-life movement shares Heldreth's pride in his son. Benham recalls the reaction of Heldreth on Good Friday as he watched his son being arrested: "When that all took place Scott was weeping, this father was weeping tears of joy seeing his son not only talk the Christian talk but walk the walk."
While the apology letter has been submitted, Heldreth told LifeSiteNews.com he's not completely sure it will be accepted.
See Joshua's full handwritten apology letter here:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/JoshuaApolog...
God bless the youngster! Dollars to donuts he was forced to apologize by the authorities.
8mm
Praise the LORD ... Glory to God.
This young boy is an example to all of us.
To have mercy and follow in the steps of Jesus. One day we will hear greater things from this exceptional boy.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/11/opinion/courtwatch/main833976.shtml
If Judge Greer owns shares in CBS, is it appropriate for CBS to be telegraphing to the U.S. Congress what questions to ASK John Roberts???????
Judge Greer is still trying to be exonerated and so is Judge Whittemore. Nice they have CBS working on their behalf.
That's an apology? The judge who senteced him should slap him and his parents for contempt.
He already plead guilty in court, so admitting guilt is a forgone conclusion. The problem here is that "I'm sorry you didn't like that..." and "I am also sorry you didn't help save her life..." are not apologetic statements in the least. The judge should slap contempt charges on everyone involved.
Apologies are commonly ordered when THE DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY in a deal to avoid more severe punishment. The kid and his parent had already admitted to guilt in open court when the letter of apology was ordered.
Terri Schiavo couldn't swallow! She was fed through tubes.
If the boy had gotten in the room and poured water down her throat she might have choked to death! Imagine how the boy would feel if he actually killed her. The people whipping up hysteria bear some responsibility when well-intentioned but misinformed people get riled up and perform misguided acts. (there were others who tried to feed Terri, people who allegedly planned to kill Michael Schiavo, people who hounded his neighbors with hate mail, etc.)
Also, (AFAIK) the Catholic Church did not have one official statement or position on Terri Schiavo, Yes, the future Pope Benedict expressed his wish and belief that she be fed. On the other hand, the Schiavos' own archbishop did not condemn Michael or the final decision. This has been a 'gray area' for the church in the past with feeding tubes at times considered an extraordinary means of prolonging life. If Terri was alert and aware it would be clear cut, but I believe the autopsy proved that she was truly a vegetable, her brain had largely liquefied. Some of you people should visit hospitals - people in far better shape than Terri Schiavo are allowed to die every day and nobody sees a problem - the families and doctors just never put the feeding tubes in, so there's no need to remove them.
Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005 at 2:37 p.m EST, over two days after the death of Terri Schiavo, who died on March 31, 2005 at 9:05 a.m. EST.
And our new Pope's name is Benedict XVI, not "Benedictus." And while there were messages being released by the Vatican related to the Vatican's position with regard to Terri, they were not written by then-Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), although I have no doubt that he agreed with them in principle. Up until Terri's death, the Vatican's commentary was provided by Cardinal Renato Martino. Following Terri's death, the responsibility for the Vatican's reaction was placed in the hands of Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valization. There is no evidence that Cardinal Ratzinger ever wrote to either George W. Bush or Jeb Bush regarding Terri.
I don't believe that you meant any disrespect to the Catholic Church, or to Catholics, with your misstatements regarding the date of Pope John Paul II's death, and the proper papal name selected by Cardinal Ratzinger after he was elected as Pope; however, I would hope that, out of basic respect, you would not continue to make those misstatements in the future.
Most Catholics that I know, including me, do not draw any connection between the deaths of Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II. To do so is (in my opinion and in the opinion of other Catholics with whom I have discussed it) disrespectful to both of them. Similarly, most Catholics that I know do not draw any connection between the deaths of Lance Cpl. Tenzin Dengkhim, USMC, and Pope John Paul II...both died on April 2, 2005, the latter in Vatican City, and the former in Iraq (in service to a war that the Vatican opposed more strenuously and publicly than it did the removal of Terri Schiavo's artificial nutrition and hydration).
Obviously, you can (and probably will) continue to attempt to make a connection--that's your choice, of course, to exploit the fact of the closeness of timing of the unrelated deaths of Pope John Paul II and Terri Schiavo to attempt to score cheap political points. But please, at the very least, proceed with accuracy with regard to actual dates of those deaths, and show the very minimal respect for our Pope by using his proper papal name.
Thank you.
Did she drool?
That judge is beneath contempt.
"Sun, Scott Thomas LIVES IN SENATOR JIM KING'S district. He's in the Hospice Hall of Fame. I'm sure that Senator King is buddies with this Judge Wilkes. Every judge in Florida who has guardianships is also pals with Judge Greer who served on the guardianship committee for years, maybe still does. Terri's dad is trying to help Scott's mom."
Thanks for the update. I hope everything turns out alright. I wonder if Glenn Beck is on this. I don't get Glenn Beck any more where I live, and I haven't heard anyone else talk about it on the radio.
Their motives are the pro-death agenda and money.
Pope Benedictus was writing daily to the president and to Jeb Bush to rescue Terri.
Thanks. I didn't know Pope B wrote daily. I think greer is well connected BECAUSE he is corrupt. His pension will not bring him one moment of peace. The Bible states what is a man if he gains the whole world but looses his soul.
I thought it was a coincidence that Pope JP died the day after Terri - like he waited to see if someone would take a stand.
When Ruth Ginsberg was questioned, she said: no hints, no previews...... - hope Judge Roberts does the same.
*The sadistic (by his own admission) Michael Schiavo, an estranged husband with a live-in mistress Jodi and illegitimate children, is assigned as Terri guardian.
*Terri was denied due process, she never had a lawyer.
*The way Terri was killed continues to horrify me. What a barbaric way to kill a person.
*The fraud and corruption involved in this case. Michael suddenly "remembered" after he won the lawsuit that Terri wanted to die. Michael's numerous lies are on the record.
*Michael treated Terri in a most disgusting, brutal way. He would not even allow flowers in her room, etc.
*No police investigation was conducted in the cause of her condition.
*It is frightening how a two-bit, incompetent and/or corrupt Judge such as Greer was allowed to get away with his disregarding laws.
The list goes one.
You might want to read Mark Fuhrman's "Silent Witness."
Terri COULD swallow. The feeding tube was just an excuse to murder her. When Terri's sibblings tried to have her fed in a previous dehydration starvation attempt, Judge Greer said that he did not want anyone feeding that girl. The rule of the case is that she should DIE!! That's what Greer said - he wanted Terri to die.
The Catholic Church is very clear that nourishment is not extraordinary means; it is ORDINARY means. John Paul II made a strong statement to let Terri LIVE! It is NOT a gray area. It is very black and white.
No, the autopsy did NOT prove that Terri was PVS.
Excerpts from Terri Schiavo Autopsy Report
Dr. Stephen Nelson, Neuropathologist, in a report contained within the autopsy report: "The persistent vegetative state and minimally conscious state are clinical diagnoses, not pathologic ones. ..."
"Neurophysiologic examination alone of the decedent's brain - or any brain for that matter - cannot prove or disprove a diagnosis of persistent vegetative state or minimally conscious state".
Terri was severely brain damaged, but NOT PVS.
AN IRRESPONSIBLE DIAGNOSIS?
The most misleading memes surrounded Terri's diagnosis and medical condition. Readers and viewers of the mainstream media were barraged with reports that Terri was in a PVS, frequently without even the mention that this diagnosis had been challenged and was doubted by responsible doctors. I frequently encountered statements such as “all the doctors” who had examined Terri concluded that she was PVS, or a cleverer version that gave at least a nod to reality: “all the reputable doctors who examined Terri found that she was PVS.”
But such assertions ignore a disturbing set of facts which I discovered in the course of my research for the National Review Online article mentioned above. In my discussion with a number of board-certified neurologists, some of whom are professors of neurology at major medical schools, I learned that the diagnoses of the neurologists who appeared in court for Michael Schiavo, and the one appointed by Judge Greer, were arrived at in a manner inconsistent with sound neurological practice-a manner which did not live up to the guidelines established by the American Academy of Neurology.
First, although the doctors who examined Terri on behalf of the Schindlers asked for Terri to be given an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan, Judge Greer refused it, as the “star” medical witness for Michael Schiavo, Dr. Ronald Cranford, said that an MRI was unnecessary. Lower-quality CT (computer-aided tomography) scans were done instead. And who made the decision regarding which medical tests Terri was to have? Judge Greer did. According to Patricia Anderson, the attorney for Bob and Mary Schindler, until the fall of 2004, Judge Greer went down the list of tests requested by the doctors and himself “checked off” which ones Terri would receive. Judge Greer's method led Anderson to comment that the judge “practiced quite a bit of medicine in this case.”
As the facts about Terri's diagnosis came out in the weeks before and after the removal of her feeding tube, many neurologists expressed dismay with the lack of advanced imaging procedures. Indeed, nearly 50 neurologists-all of them board-certified and many of them leaders in the discipline-came forward and either offered, or expressed a willingness to offer, affidavits calling on the court to allow new neurological exams of Terri, including advanced imaging tests such as MRI.
The neurologists I have interviewed all acknowledge that the diagnosis of PVS is primarily “clinical”-that is, arrived at mainly on the basis of examination rather than from tests. However, many also asserted that they would themselves order an MRI in a case like Terri's, when life and death are at stake. As one of them, Dr. Peter Morin, explained, an MRI is very useful in “determining the extent of brain injury,” and in assessing the likelihood of the patient's improvement or recovery. Dr. Kalarickal Oomen, a professor of neurology at Oklahoma University Medical School, added that “MRI in many cases gives much better anatomic detail than CT, and is far superior” to the CT scans which were done on Terri in 2002. The value of MRI in assessing brain-injured patients such as Terri led several neurologists to go so far as to characterize a decision deliberately to forego one (as was done with Terri) as “not responsible.”
The guidelines laid down by the American Academy of Neurology for diagnosing patients suspected of being vegetative remark that the diagnosis of PVS can require months to establish. These guidelines also call for careful, repeated examinations of the patient. Neurologists explained that these repeated visits need to be conducted at varying times and under different circumstances. Thus Dr. William Bell, a professor of neurology at Wake Forest University Medical School, explained that brain-injured patients have severely disrupted sleep/wake cycles, and that a doctor can examine such a patient on one day and find him seemingly unresponsive, but return at a different time the next day and find the patient quite alert and aware of his environment. A 1996 article published in the British Medical Journal, which reported a 43 percent error rate in diagnoses of PVS, also cautioned that a “bedside assessment” alone was “inadequate” to make a diagnosis of PVS.
But the exams conducted by the three doctors retained by Michael Schiavo and the court were in fact nothing but the kind of “bedside assessments” deemed “inadequate” in the British Medical Journal study. Each doctor examined Terri for no more than 45 minutes, on only one occasion. Neurologists I interviewed did not object to the length of the exams, saying that a neurological exam could be conducted in 30 to 45 minutes. However, all of them expressed dismay at the lack of repeat exams. Dr. Mouhammed Kabbani, of the University of Missouri Medical School, said: “A single exam for 45 minutes is not enough. There should be continuous observation over a few days to make sure there is, or there is not, meaningful and reproducible response.”
The claims regarding the reliability of Terri's diagnosis of PVS turn out, on further examination, to be as groundless or exaggerated as the many other memes propagated by the media. Dr. Bernardine Healy, former director of the National Institutes of Health and medical columnist for US News and World Report, lamented that the medical procedures followed in Terri's case were simply “not good enough” for a situation “when life-and death-are on the line.” While some reporters and commentators, such as Dr. Healy, attempted to stem the tide of misinformation, they appear to have been drowned out. This lack of diligence by the press, and, in many cases, seemingly willing cooperation with the pro-death agenda, led Nat Hentoff, the acknowledged leftist and avowed atheist writer for The Village Voice, to describe the coverage of Terri's case as “disgracefully ignorant.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1416995/posts?q=1&&page=751, Post #799
What is the latest on Michael Schiavo's lawsuit?
I agree. Scott's story is significant enough for a threat of its own.
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