I have just posted two threads about Robert Lavers trying to save his wife Heather from being killed like Terri was. Her sister and mother (though the mother denies it) are saying that a mere SIX WEEKS of the all-encompassing "PVS" is long enough.
Though the court has given him a month to prove that Robert is able to care for Heather, I find it odd that the Mikey the sociopath adulterer was considered a capable guardian while a loving husband might not be.
By SHERRI ACKERMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: October 28, 2008
GIBSONTON - Robert Lavers remembers waking precisely at 7 the morning of Sept. 9.
He and his daughter had fallen asleep in the living room. His wife, Heather, was still in bed, which was unusual.
"I went to nudge her and she didn't wake," Robert recalled.
She still hasn't.
His 38-year-old wife had suffered a cardiac arrest. Doctors say she has been in a persistent vegetative state ever since and likely will never come out of it.
That medical prognosis has begun a chain of events that, like the infamous Terri Schiavo case, will pit a husband against his wife's family and potentially reignite the national debate over who decides whether a seemingly hopeless patient lives or dies.
A Toledo judge is expected to appoint a legal guardian Wednesday to speak on Heather Lavers' behalf.
Her sister in Ohio is asking the court to grant her decision-making power over all medical care for Heather. Robert says his sister-in-law considers his wife brain-dead and would eventually "pull the plug."
He wouldn't, he says, because he and his wife discussed the issue and agreed on one thing: "Only God can stop your heart.''
Robert Lavers has another month to hone his arguments about why he shouldn't lose the right to decide how long his wife is kept alive.
An Ohio judge today granted Lavers' attorney 30 more days to prepare his case before hearing arguments on whether Lavers' sister-in-law will become his wife's legal guardian.
Heather Lavers has been in a persistent vegetative state since she had a heart attack and lost consciousness in her Tampa home about six weeks ago.
Her sister, a nurse at The Toledo Hospital, persuaded Robert Lavers to move his wife to the Ohio facility and assumed the role of temporary health surrogate. Now the sister, Heidi Kaczala, is fighting for guardianship, which would give her authority to make end-of-life decisions.
"I'm the natural guardian," said Robert Lavers, who has been married to Heather Lavers for 17 years. "This is a horrible distraction. I shouldn't have to be worrying about this while I'm trying to save Heather."
Kaczala considers her sister brain dead and likely would favor ending extraordinary life-sustaining measures, Lavers said.
