Terri's Story

Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation ^ | December 3,2006 | Schindler Foundation

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Theresa Marie Schindler was born to Robert and Mary Schindler on December 3, 1963. She was the first of three children the Schindlers would have.

Terri was a shy, but comical, child who had an affinity for music, animals and the arts. She kept a small circle of friends and was dear to schoolmates, neighboring families and her own extended family.

Following high school, Terri came into her own. She developed a knack for sketching and doodling. She enjoyed outings with her friends. She was an adoptive mother to the family’s dog, Bucky.

Terri attended Catholic School while growing up and remained close to her faith throughout her life.

In 1983, Terri met Michael Schiavo at Bucks County Community College and the two began dating. He was the first romantic interest Terri had.

The couple was engaged within a few months and married a year later at Terri’s church in Southampton, Pa. She was 21.

In 1986, Terri and Michael relocated to Pinellas County, Florida and her parents followed three months later.

In 1990, at the age of 26, Terri suffered a mysterious cardio-respiratory arrest for which no cause has ever been determined. She was diagnosed with hypoxic encephalopathy – neurological injury caused by lack of oxygen to the brain. Terri was placed on a ventilator, but was soon able to breathe on her own and maintain vital function. She remained in a severely compromised neurological state and was provided a PEG tube to ensure the safe delivery of nourishment and hydration.

On March 31, 2005, Terri Schindler Schiavo died of marked dehydration following more than 13 days without nutrition or hydration under the order of Circuit Court Judge, George W. Greer of the Pinellas-Pasco’s Sixth Judicial Court. Terri was 41.

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Bearing in mind the post by T'wit earlier on, #1,353, regarding the value of living wills, and my post above remembering Uncle Johnny and the fatal surprise he got from Rhode Island medical staff, I find this topic interestingly timed...

Catholics around the country are turning to their churches for similar fill-in-the-blank documents that turn Catholic teachings into legally binding agreements about how they want to die. Many signers cite Terry Schiavo, whose case sparked a 15-year legal battle that grew beyond her family all the way to the White House over whether she should be allowed to die.

With Schiavo in a persistent vegetative state, her husband ordered her feeding tube removed against her parents' vehement opposition, and she died in 2005. Some, including the Vatican, likened her death to murder.

"I don't think I have any right as a Catholic to say when my life should end," Kelly said. "I don't think I have a right to take my own life, a right to take anyone else's life, and I certainly don't want anyone taking my own life."

Snip...

Known as a durable power of attorney, the document will eventually become the centerpiece of an information packet about death that Catholic leaders in Rhode Island could one day hand out in hospitals, hospices or local churches.

The form allows the signer to designate a medical decision-maker in case the signer becomes incapable. That person would be constrained by church teachings, including prohibitions against mercy killing.

Catholics look for guidance in maze of end-of-life issues

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George Felos, where are you? Death is beautiful, euphoric, right? Just ask Saddam Hussain and his fellow lovers of death.

"This is not a painful way to die at all. She died about the 10th day. And it was a beautiful death, her family was with her."

A death in Italy raises questions here

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This remains a tough topic for me based on our own experiences. I have a hard time posting this without letting my anger grow into wild fury. I repeat. Such procedures are simply experimental and are cosmetically feel-goods for the parents and guilt-ridden, are a disaster for the child who would have remained naturally small anyway.

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(CNN) -- David is a young man with severe cerebral palsy. He can't walk, he can't talk, he can't sit up by himself, but he can blog. This week, David blogged about Ashley.

"Ashley's parents have committed the ultimate betrayal," he writes. "They have treated their daughter as less than human, not worthy of dignity.... What strikes me about 'the Ashley treatment' and has brought me to tears is that the very people in all of society whom this child should trust have betrayed her."

Everyone on the Internet, it seems, has an opinion about what Ashley's parents did to her. Ashley, 9, has a condition called static encephalopathy, which means an unchanging brain injury of unknown origin. She's in a permanent infant-like state -- can't hold her head up, speak or roll over on her own. (Read a Q&A with the ethicist who helped decide on Ashley's treatment. )

Ashley

Disability community decries 'Ashley treatment'

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Ping to a thread by TheDon on miraculous good things happening...

"I believe Amanda is a miracle," her mom says. A miracle that she insists she never doubted – would never permit herself to doubt. "Instead of crying … I remember singing praise songs in the shower. We become warriors when we have to be.

"When tragedy strikes, you … get down on your knees and you seek all that you can muster up to pull you through. I got in the Bible and I read day and night through the Scriptures and I looked for a sign. Whether to believe the doctors, that Amanda, if she ever did make it, would be nothing more than a vegetable. Or to take that Scripture and hold it close to my heart and believe it without a shadow of a doubt."

Mandy's baby (Mom recovered from coma)

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Thanks for the ping to the (slightly troll infested) good news thread above.

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Ping to wagglebee thread on a South Carolina move to help potential abortion candidates understand what is about to happen. I am sure Planned Parenthood is horrified that their clear efforts could be clouded by facts.

Columbia, SC (LifeNews.com) -- A bill filed in the South Carolina state legislature would allow women considering an abortion the opportunity to view an ultrasound of their unborn child before having an abortion. Ultrasound viewing have proven effective in changing the minds of women contemplating an abortion.

State Sen. Kevin Bryant, a Republican, is the prime sponsor of the legislation, SB 84, that calls on abortion businesses to use an ultrasound to determine the gestational age of the unborn child and to review the ultrasound pictures with the mother.

South Carolina Bill Would Allow Women an Ultrasound Before Abortion

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Any time we grow complacent and see the assault on Terri as an anomaly, we may reflect on a case such as this on a thread by wagglebee.

Mr. West said that doctors told him that his grandmother’s “quality of life” would be so poor that “it would be in her best interests not to intervene and let her die”.

Although consultant geriatrician Brian Payne testified that she had been “confused” when he examined her and had not responded to his questions, Mrs. Nockels’ relatives denied that she was incoherent. They said she had asked them for tea, beetroot sandwiches and macaroni and cheese.

Ivy West, said, “I talked to her every day. She would tell me she was cold and that she wanted something to eat.”

Coroner Rules Norfolk (U.K.) Grandmother “Not Starved” after 16 Days on ¼ Starvation Diet

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Call for support for Floriduh Voter and the encouragement she needs in her battle to help her mother. We are continuing our prayers for Floriduh Voter and her Mom and for the rest of the family as well.

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Prayers for you always.

God Bless

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I wonder, too. Rosie O'Donut was yakking about her wife on tv recently. (dux yux)

Just yuk.