As the school bus rolled to a stop outside her Lake County home, Beth Jones adjusted the bright yellow document protruding from the pouch of her daughter's wheelchair, making sure it was clearly visible. Posted on 12/10/2007 10:11:05 AM PST by Sopater
As the school bus rolled to a stop outside her Lake County home, Beth Jones adjusted the bright yellow document protruding from the pouch of her daughter's wheelchair, making sure it was clearly visible.
In bold letters it warned, "Do Not Resuscitate."
The DNR order goes everywhere with Katie, including her 2nd-grade classroom at Laremont School in Gages Lake. The school is part of the Special Education District of Lake County, where an emotional two-year discussion ended this summer when officials agreed to honor such directives.
Now, district officials find themselves in the unusual position of having planned the steps its staff will, or won't, take to permit a child to die on school grounds. Although DNR orders are common in hospitals and nursing homes, such life-and-death drama rarely plays out in schools, where officials realize how sensitive and traumatic the situation could be for nurses, teachers and students.
Katie's brain was deprived of oxygen before birth. She can't walk, talk or do anything for herself. She is fed through a tube in her stomach and has an increased susceptibility to infection. Violent choking and coughing spasms have signaled a turn for the worse in her condition.
A Do Not Resuscitate order is a doctor's directive, issued with the consent of the family, that cardiopulmonary resuscitation will not be used if the patient suffers from heart or breathing problems. It can also prohibit using such devices as a defibrillator or an intubation tube. 
The new DNR policy puts Katie's school district at the forefront of a growing national debate about severely disabled and chronically ill children whose lives have been extended by medical advances -- and whose parents must face heart-wrenching decisions about the future.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I don’t get it. If she is able to use basic communication, why isn’t she allowed to speak for herself? How and the world could anyone stand by and let this beautiful child perish, knowing that she knows- even in the smallest capacity- what’s going on.
Saving a child from dying, the teacher would probably lose their NEA membership.
“Do you think that listening to a song about prepositions is going to be a meaningful thing for her?”
If she is enjoying it, and it gives her a sense of normalcy or routine in her life, I fail to see what is so bad about it. She is a suffering little girl, and if school gives her pleasure then I think it is a fine solution for her. I am sure that it gives the other children in her class an appreciation for how lucky they are, and how unfair some things in life can be.
Really? So I can sue the government if they prevent me from trying to save the life of an inmate about to be executed? No? Maybe I can sue if they try to prevent me from leaping into a polar bear enclosure while the animal is rending another zoo patron? No? Then maybe I can find that right in the text of the Constitution? No? Then maybe I can find some case law that supports your assertion? No? Hmmm... funny thing, that.
Or maybe it just feels nice to type it, whether it reflects reality or not.
A God given right, absolutely
The “mother” disgusts me.
Is listening to a song about prepositions beneficial for any kid? Does the average adult need to know prepositions? Is it beneficial for her to know she is valued and loved and included in the fun of hearing music?
What the hell is she doing in school? The point of attendance is.... ? To catch a fatal infection?
No I am not.
You, however, are a controlling, presumptuous, mind-reading doofus twit.
Enough said.
So I take it you roam around the hospitals all day tackling doctors who pull the plug?
You have no right to make decisions for other parents. You do realize that sex ed, condom demonstrations and other things are forced on children because people like you preach parents can’t be “dictators over everyone’s conscience.”
Nothing frightens me more than people who grab control of other people’s children because they “know better.”
Maybe,
but if the child gets pleasure out of school, I can see her logic.
Plus, she may work (and have to).
Again, we don’t know the whole story.
Why is this child in school? Exactly. I respect the wish to let the poor thing die. That’s not euthanasia for crying out loud, but its another thing to expect her temporary non-medical caregivers to honor such a directive.
I also do not think any of us is in a position to second guess these parents motives. I have kids, and I can’t (and do not want to) even imagine being in the situation they are in and making the choices they are having to make. If they have decided her last days will be a little brighter being around other kids, and that after having seen her go through CPR how many times that they don’t want to put her through it again, I can’t fault them, even if I think I would do something different with my family.
Thoughts and prayers for her and her parents.
“There is no “right” to kill your kids.”
They are not killing her. The girl has a condition that will kill her. They’ve put it in God’s hands. Sounds like you would prefer to hand it over to the government.
These people are not killing their kid. They are allowing her to die, which is obviously God’s will. Do you understand how painful it is to be resuscitated repeatedly, intubated or defibrilized? It is horrible. This child suffers tremendously each time that happens, and only so that it can be done again?? Sometimes it is best to allow God to take over. This little girl deserves some peace and happiness with God, she has endured enough.
I would bet that she is not in a classroom with 20+ “normal” kids, so SHE is not costing THEM any part of their education. Remember, this is a public school, their education is already lost to them!
Of course, this isn't a regular public school. ". The school is part of the Special Education District of Lake County...".
To clear up any ambiguity about that, from the school's web site: "Laremont School serves students exhibiting severe to profound mental impairment and/or multiple disabilities. Laremont presents an educational option for students with acute medical needs, requiring extensive support services, best delivered at a centralized site." http://www.sedol.k12.il.us/laremont.html
Sounds like day care for those who can't even benefit from special ed.
Read the article, it talks about the mother coming from home to pick the girl up from school after an episode in the classroom. At the very least the mother was home that day. In addition they have a nurse from hospice who is apparently helping them care for their daughter.
There’s no reason that children, teachers, etc. should be forced to watch this little girl die.
You appear to be operating from the notion that rights are artificial constructs created by statute.
A few points to keep in mind:
(1) Rights are given to men by their Creator, not by conventions and plebiscites. The Framers of our Constitution were well aware of this self-evident truth.
(2) The Constitution is not an exhaustive enumeration of rights, nor was it ever intended to be. Nowhere in the US Constitution is there any language abridging the right of men to assist a dying child.
(3) There is no statute on the books anywhere in America - yet - that enjoins the average citizen from helping an innocent fellow human being in danger of death - as long as that innocent human being has been born.
Or maybe it just feels nice to type it, whether it reflects reality or not.
Here is an unescapable reality: if someone fails to help a dying child, when he himself dies and is judged, his Judge may well ask "Why did you not help this child?"
And the answer: "Lord, it was technically illegal under a provision of the Illinois state code" will not be an acceptable one.
They don’t want paramedics, etc., disrupting their lives by rushing in to try to save her life, but, they don’t mind news reporters, photographers, television cameras, etc., rushing in for the death watch?
I’d have to know more about it, but, on the surface it appears they could have “home schooled” the child, and avoided the controversy and the publicity.
Perhaps both of her parents have to work to support her and to pay for the astronomical cost of her day-to-day care. There, but for the grace of God, go you.
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