Free Republic

A US woman who has spent the past 20 years in a coma-like state has inexplicably awoken and can now speak, news reports said. Sarah Scantlin was 18 years old when, as a pedestrian, she was injured in a hit-and-run accident that left her in a semi-vegetative condition, aware of her surroundings but unable to speak or move. Since that time, she has been in a care centre in the Midwest US state of Kansas. Scantlin's parents unexpectedly received a phone call last week from the nursing home where their now 38-year-old daughter resides. However, instead of the call being...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A judge ruled Thursday that the state's social services agency cannot delay the removal of the feeding tube keeping brain-damaged Terri Schiavo alive. The Department of Children & Families had asked for a 60-day delay in the removal of the feeding tube, now scheduled March 18. The agency said it wanted time to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect by the woman's husband, Michael Schiavo. But Circuit Judge George W. Greer ruled that the agency's attempt to get involved at this point was inappropriate and "appears to be brought for the purpose of circumventing the court's...

Evidence of Physical Abuse Haunts Michael Schiavo Fractures in wife’s ribs, pelvis, spine and ankle point to prolonged violent abuse To: National Desk Contact: Gary McCullough for the Schindler Family, 202-546-0054 CLEARWATER, Fl., Feb.10 /Christian Wire Service/ -- On May 6, 1990, two months after the mysterious incident that left Terri Schindler Schiavo severely mentally disabled, Dr. Hamilton, an Orthopedic Surgeon, examined her. A year later Terri was demonstrating painful reactions to physical therapy treatment, so on March 5, 1991, the Mediplex therapist director ordered a bone scan. This bone scan revealed a healed broken right femur bone and healed...