RN Ford Comments:
Terri Schiavo guardian shares his experience at lecture
Guest Speaker: Jay Wolfson, Dr. P.H., J.D. spoke about his now former client, Theresa Schiavo.
"I would sit with her and stroke her hair and hold her hand and I would take her head in my hands and beg her to help me help her," said Jay Wolfson, Dr. P.H., J.D. about his now former client, Theresa Schiavo.
As he talked about his personal thoughts and experiences of brain-damaged Schiavo\'s case Nov. 10, the FIU community sat, and stood, in Graham Center 140, silently listening to Wolfson\'s every word.
Although the fight for Schiavo\'s future had been going on for years, Wolfson, professor of public health and medicine at the University of South Florida, came into the picture in 2003 as the court appointed Special Guardian ad Litem.
He was the legal representative for Schiavo. He had a month to look through all of the legal and medical documents "of a woman I didn\'t know." He reported to Governor Jeb Bush and the courts as to whether or not Schiavo should have more swallowing tests administered. This would guide the governor in his decision-making about the case.
"I didn\'t follow the O.J. or the Schiavo case," said Wolfson. "All of a sudden, I am asked to inject myself into this thing."
Wolfson did more than just read 30,000 pages worth of documents. He turned to famous philosophers and writers such as Dante, Descartes and Nietzsche for answers. He spent time with Schiavo\'s family, the Schindlers and with Michael Schiavo, her husband. Wolfson also spent one to four hours a day with Schiavo.
"I was seeking both information and knowledge," he said.
Wolfson had many special tasks as Schiavo\'s Guardian ad Litem. One of them was to serve in the best interests of his ward. Wolfson said that the problem he had with that task was whether or not he should do what he, or someone else thought was best for Schiavo.
Another task Wolfson had was to determine if there was "feasibility and value in swallowing tests and swallowing therapy given the totality of the circumstances." Wolfson\'s problem with this was that value can be relative.
Wolfson had to make a decision concerning Schiavo\'s fate.
"The scientist in me had to come in," Wolfson said.
The rules given to Wolfson for his decision-making were clear. He had to give competent, clear and convincing evidence.' '"We can take the best law we can and apply it in the best way we can. That is all we can do," Wolfson said.
Wolfson explained that when Schiavo had her accident, she fell and her brain was without oxygen for 12 minutes. She had slipped into a coma and was put on a respirator for a month. Two months later, she was considered vegetative. Schiavo could not swallow liquids.
Wolfson showed on a projector a picture of Schiavo\'s cerebral cortex. He explained that this was where reasoning is. It was where the consciousness may be and it was beyond reflexes. Schiavo\'s cerebral cortex was found to be all liquid.
"Her cerebral cortex was gone," Wolfson said.
Finally, Wolfson\'s decision was made. He decided that additional testing could and would be done if everyone agreed in advance as to how the results were to be used. An agreement was never made.
From within the whirlwind, Wolfson discovered two things.
"I wound up learning that there was something about this case, and it involved a certain chemical - hope," Wolfson said. "Is hope maybe the ability of human beings to have something beyond yourself that is a part of you?"
Wolfson called this ability the divine spark.
"It\'s that special thing which makes us human," Wolfson said.
The second thing Wolfson discovered involved perspective.
"Much of what we see and hear is just the tip of the iceberg, and everyone will have different perspectives of the tip," he said. "What I do know is that things that are said and are represented are not the same."
As the lecture came to an end, Wolfson said he could see why life is so important to people. "The alternative is the unknown and could be not being," he said.
Dr. P.H., J.D.
All the letters after his name and he's still a heartless idiot. A 12-year old knows more about life than him.
Instead of representing Terri, which was his legal and moral responsibility, Wolfson echoed George Greer on 99.9% of the points at issue. He is a spineless, gutless windbag who shares the guilt of sending a helpless woman to her death.
Cheryl Ford is totally right about Jay Wolfson and his lack of caring about Terri. Wolfson was part of the group that wanted her to die, imo. Wolfson was constantly on the media spinning the BS lies of the culture of death while Terri was imprisoned and not allowed to have even an ice chip placed in her mouth by her sweet Mom or anyone else. For Wolfson to pretend he cared about Terri is an insult to those who know the truth. I'll never believe Terri didn't have awareness and didn't speak in her own way. My own sister-in-law was just like Terri, but with therapy managed to regain many functions.
From the article you quoted: ""He was the legal representative for Schiavo. He had a month to look through all of the legal and medical documents "of a woman I didn\'t know." He reported to Governor Jeb Bush and the courts as to whether or not Schiavo should have more swallowing tests administered. This would guide the governor in his decision-making about the case.""
What the heck does the last sentence in the above paragraph mean??? I thought Gov Bush had already decided that Terri should NOT be forced to die by having her feeding tube removed. Who is Wolfson trying to fool?? Terri was forbidden to have anything put in her mouth. Why? They knew the feeding tube was the key to killing her. If she was allowed swallow therapy - not just a swallow test, the feeding tube removal might have been meaningless. Those who wanted her to die knew she wasn't terminal. They knew the only way they could kill her would be by removing the feeding tube. But that wasn't enough for them. They also managed to forbid food and drink by mouth. Terri's own family was forbidden to give her anything by mouth.
One court doc I read submitted by Felos actually said something like this - Terri is terminal because if her feeding tube is removed, she will die. What hedious double speak. What insanity. All of us, including Felos would die without water. Dang! I've done it again... another rant.
Back to Cheryl - I'm so glad Cheryl's book is available. I'm planning to order it from her website. She's a wonderful person whom I had the pleasure of communicating with by email for the past few years. Cheryl is a hero, who fought so hard to save a precious, innocent woman from death. I would love to meet her someday and others whom I've come to love here on FR.