Posted on 03/23/2005 7:27:11 AM PST by queenkathy
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11:52 p.m. EST
Second, Third Nurse Accuse Michael Schiavo
Two additional nurses have filed affidavits in the Terri Schiavo case that corroborate bombshell allegations by nurse Carla Sauer Iyer, who went public on Tuesday with claims that Michael Schiavo had deliberately withheld treatment from his disabled wife.
Heidi Law was a certified nursing assistant at the Palm Garden Convalescent Center in Largo, Fla., where she treated Mrs. Schiavo in 1997.
Story Continues Below
In an affidavit filed with the court in August 2003, Ms. Law maintained:
"I know that Terri did not receive routine physical therapy or any other kind of therapy. I was personally aware of orders for rehabilitation that were not being carried out. Even though they were ordered, Michael would stop them."
Law continued:
"Michael ordered that Terri receive no rehabilitation or range of motion therapy. I and [another CNA] would give Terri range of motion anyway, but we knew we were endangering our jobs by doing so.
"We usually did this behind closed doors," Law said, because "we were so fearful of being caught ... we were always looking out for Michael, because we knew that, not only would Michael take his anger out on us, but he would take it out more on Terri. We spoke of this many times."
"At least three times during any shift where I took care of Terri, I made sure to give Terri a wet washcloth filled with ice chips, to keep her mouth moistened.
"On three or four occasions I personally fed Terri small mouthfuls of Jello, which she was able to swallow and enjoyed immensely. I did not do it more often only because I was so afraid of being caught by Michael."
Like nurse Iyer, Law suspected that Michael was mistreating Terri, noting in her sworn statement:
"Several times when Michael visited Terri during my shift, he went into her room alone and closed the door. This worried me because I didn’t trust Michael.
"When he left, Terri was very agitated, was extremely tense with tightened fists and sometimes had a cold sweat. She was much less responsive than usual and would just stare out the window, her eyes kind of glassy. ...
"We were convinced that he was abusing her, and probably saying cruel, terrible things to her because she would be so upset when he left."
"The Palm Gardens staff, myself included, were just amazed that a 'Do Not Resuscitate' order had been put on Terri’s chart, considering her age and her obvious cognitive awareness of her surroundings."
Carolyn Johnson, a certified nursing assistant who worked at the Sabal Palms nursing home in Largo, said Terri's mistreatment went back to at least 1993.
"During this assignment I took care of Terri Schiavo several times," Johnson said in her own August 2003 affidavit.
"I learned, as part of my training, that there was a family dispute and that the husband, as guardian, wanted no rehabilitation for Terri. This surprised me, as I did not think a guardian could go against a doctor's orders like that, but I was assured that a guardian could and that this guardian had gone against Terri's doctor's orders."
Johnson recalled: "No one was allowed to just go in and see Terri. Michael had a visitors list. We all knew that we would lose our jobs if we did not do exactly what Michael said to do."
Johnson continued:
"I remember seeing Michael Schiavo only once the entire time I worked at Sabal Palms, but we were all aware that Terri was not to be given any kind of rehabilitative help, per his instructions.
"Once, I wanted to put a cloth in Terri's hand to keep her hand from closing in on itself, but I was not permitted to do this," Johnson said, "as Michael Schiavo considered that to be a form of rehabilitation."
You might also try these sites:
http://www.terrisfight.net/
http://www.theempirejournal.com/
And why should we give the slightest credence to your views DollarCoins(2005-03-20)?
We read you as you are.
DollarCoins
Since Mar 20, 2005
Oh, and BTW, welcome to FR
Terri ping! If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my Terri ping list, please let me know by FReepmail!
I think they should release Dr. Kevorkian now. Afterall, he did the same thing and he's in prison right here in Michigan.
They did not testify at trial.
Why not?
Good job! There sure is a lot there.
Did you read the other day that Felos, the atty for Michael Schiavo, donated money to the campaign of Judge Greer? Conflict of Interest...???
Thanks for the links to the affidavits. Very informative. I still pose the question as to why, TEN YEARS later, did the nurses decide to come forth with this information. It seems ludicrous
I saw that too. See my earlier post about conflict of interest
The people trying
to keep this woman "alive"
are starting to look
less and less Christian,
and rather like folks defined
by a psychotic
fear of death. Christ's love
is supposed to give us peace,
ease our fear of death.
By fighting so hard
to keep this tragic woman
on the fringe of "life"
to my eyes it looks
like some folks are confessing
lack of Christian faith.
Its not as if you are a long-time member, I read you as you are.
Seeing those photos has to bring a tear to anyones eye
BTTT!
Seeing those photos has to bring a tear to anyones eye. Let her go home and be taken care of by her parents!!
Give the women credit for facing the reality of our times at first and now seeing there is a chance for change with all the media coverage.
I believe them, newby.
Why would their licenses be in jeopardy?
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