Schiavo's brother backs local woman's custody fight (Gary Harvey)

The Corning Leader ^ | 12/15/09 | John Zick

[wagglebee]

Elmira, N.Y. -

Bobby Schindler watched his sister die in one of the most publicized end-of-life cases in the nation’s history.

Now, he’s hoping a similar case in Chemung County has a different ending.

Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo, was in Elmira Monday to show his support for Sara Harvey, who is attempting to regain custody of her injured husband, Gary Harvey.

“We’re trying to support her efforts to bring her husband home,” Schindler said.

Chemung County is the guardian of Gary Harvey, who has been in a persistent vegetative state since he fell down his basement steps in January 2006 in Horseheads. Sara Harvey was removed as her husband’s guardian in February 2007.

She claims Chemung County is trying to kill her husband, as evidenced by its request in May to remove Gary Harvey’s feeding tube. The county has said it follows the advice of doctors to make decisions in Gary Harvey’s best interests.

“I just want my husband back,” she said Monday. Ultimately, the county withdrew its request to remove Gary Harvey’s feeding tube, but a do-not-resuscitate order remains in place.

The case remains in legal limbo.

Sara Harvey lost guardianship of her husband in February 2007 after a judge found she was ill-suited to care for him and did not follow medical advice. The county attorney’s office claims Sara Harvey has a history of abusing her injured husband, an allegation she denies. Like Sara Harvey, Schindler and his family did not have guardianship of Terri Schiavo, whose husband was her guardian.

Terri Schiavo, who had been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990, died March 31, 2005, in Florida after her feeding tube was removed by a court order, a move requested and backed by her husband, Michael Schiavo. Her death culminated years of bitter legal fights between the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo. “There are animals that got treated better than my sister,” Schindler said. “All life is really sacred.”

Schindler said Chemung County should allow Sara Harvey to regain guardianship and let Gary Harvey live. “Gary Harvey is not dying,” Schindler said. “There is no reason care (should be) denied.”

Schindler, who visited Gary Harvey on Monday at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Elmira, said the county is bullying Sara Harvey.

“It’s horrible how they are treating this woman,” he said.

Sara Harvey is allowed only supervised visits with her husband.

“I went through hell, and I’m still going through hell,” she said. “The government owns my husband.”

Schindler, who has an uncle who lives in Corning, helps run a foundation that advocates for people in situations similar to Sara Harvey’s. The foundation’s Web site is www.terrisfight.org.

[wagglebee]

Here's a great example of how the noose tightens: suppose the "medical advise" is "withhold nutrition and hydration." You violate that, and they'll find you "ill-suited and refusing to follow medical advise...."

That's basically what happened. Sara Harvey doesn't want to kill her husband, so they have deemed her "ill-suited" to be his guardian.

[BykrBayb]

Some of those harpies’ bitter lapdogs are still hanging on. Some of them still stalk us.

[BykrBayb]

You no longer need to use your imagination. That’s what really happened in this case.

[Slyfox]

she said. “The government owns my husband.”

Hey, wait til the government REALLY takes over healthcare.

[Dante3]

Ditto.