From his affidavit:
To enter the room of Terri Schiavo is nothing like entering the room of a patient who is comatose or brain-dead or in some neurological sense no longer there. As I looked at Terri, and she gazed directly back at me, I asked myself whether, if I were her attending physician, I could in good conscience withdraw her feeding and hydration. No, I could not. I could not withdraw life support if I were asked. I could not withhold life-sustaining nutrition and hydration from this beautiful lady whose face brightens in the presence of others. --3/23/2005
As I looked at Terri, and she gazed directly back at me...
Except that we know from the autopsy that she was blind, because her visual cortex was destroyed. So she can't possibly have gazed back at him. Also, he watched videotapes, reviewed her records and observed her, but did not examine her. Sadly, I suspect that Dr. Cheshire's hopes for her got the better of objective medical judgement.