Michael was under the care of a psychiatrist and attacked Suzanne, Terri's sister at one point.
Schindlers Wonder What Happened the Night Terri Collapsed
“Everything goes back to that night,” said Bob Schindler, the father of the 39-year-old Archbishop Wood graduate, Terri Schindler-Schiavo, who suffered a severe brain injury in her Florida home in late February 1990.
Her husband, Michael, made an hour-long appearance on Larry King Live on Monday, Oct. 27, giving his side of a very controversial story why he has been trying to have his wife’s feeding tube removed.
Michael Schiavo told Larry King it all began in the middle of the night of Feb. 25, 1990, when he heard a loud thud in the hall and found Terri lying unconscious. Schiavo claimed that he called Terri’s brother Bobby, who lived in the same apartment complex, who told him to call 911. When Bobby arrived, Michael claimed that he was holding Terri in his arms.
“That’s what he said, but that’s not true,” Bob Schindler said. “Michael called me and said he couldn’t wake her up. I told Michael to call 911 right away, and then I called Bobby, my son, and told him to get over there right away to see what was going on. He was the one who was there before the rescue squad came in.
“Bobby said he found Terri laying face down in the hallway with her hands clutched to her throat and her breathing was gurgling. Michael was sitting on the couch and was frantic.”
Several times during the show, Schiavo told Larry King that Bob Schindler tried to get money from him. According to Schindler, the money he wanted was what Schiavo promised to pay for his daughter’s continued therapy.
According to printed reports, when the Schindler family learned of an experimental procedure in California that involved stimulating the brain with electrodes, they raised the necessary money and flew Terri out.
Although it was unsuccessful, they were united in their determination to explore every possible treatment.
“It was a government grant of some kind,” Schindler said, “and part of the deal was that she was to have therapy after the operation.”
Her therapy was to continue at the Shands Medical Center at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
In 1991, when Terri returned to Florida, she had progressed enough to be able to speak. Her medical records indicate that she was able to say things like “stop that” and other words. In spite of the progress, Schiavo wanted to wait until after he received the award money from his pending malpractice suit.
“He promised that once the malpractice money came in, he would get her the therapy. That’s what he was pleading in front of the malpractice jury, that he needed all this money to take care of her. They awarded him the money and we were all ecstatic because Terri could continue the therapy.
In 1992 Schiavo won a malpractice suit against Terri’s gynecologist for failing to administer tests that might have detected her potassium imbalance. Combined with another medical suit settlement, $700,000 was deposited into a trust fund for Terri, and $300,000 for Michael. As Terri’s guardian, Michael was the only one that had access to the money.
“At first, Schiavo kind of avoided us, and every time I did have an opportunity to see him or talk to him, I would ask when he was going to get her into the rehab program. He’d always say, ‘We’ll talk about it later.’
“When I finally confronted him, I said, ‘OK, we’re going to talk about it right now, not later.’ I said ‘You made a commitment to Terri and our family that you were going to get Terri this state-of-the art therapy. Now, when are you going to do that?’
“That’s when he went insane. He started screaming, ‘I’m her husband! I make all the decisions! You have nothing to say.’ There were some books in the room and he started throwing them against the wall. Then he charged after me, but my wife jumped in between us. He ran out of the room and said, ‘You’ll never see Terri again. I’ll never permit you to see her again. I’m calling my attorney.’ That’s the last time we really had any conversation with Michael.
“Michael gets violent. He tried to attack Suzanne (Terri’s sister) prior to this incident. He went after our Suzanne the same way he came after me,” Schindler said, but he jumped in between. “Michael was seeing a psychiatrist named Dr. Caplan at the time and I called up the doctor and explained what happened. The doctor said, ‘The next time he does that, call the police immediately. He can be dangerous.’ ... He has a violent temper.”
This behavior corroborates the story of Terri’s brother, Bobby, and friend, Jackie Rhoades. They claimed that on the day of Terri’s collapse, she and Michael fought so badly that they both feared for her safety.
Schiavo vehemently denied these claims on Larry King and said there was no evidence of injuries to support Schindler’s allegations that he tried to strangle Terri that night.
“No, they didn’t find marks,” Schindler said. “They found bruises. That’s in her medical records, which we didn’t see for 10 years. One of our doctors told the court about the injury during the 2000 trial. Schiavo’s court appointed doctor also admitted that a neck problem showed up on her medical records.”
Terri also had a broken femur on the night of her admission to the hospital and bone scans were done in the early days of Terri’s therapy, according to Schindler.
“That’s when they found all these fractures,” he said. “The radiologist said the screen ‘just lit up’ from all the injuries. A neurological radiologist looked at the bone scan. ‘Somebody worked her over good’ is how he put it.”
According to the Schindlers, it seems deliberate that the courts have overlooked so much evidence. For instance, the courts continue to maintain that Terri is in a persistent vegetative state based on a report by Schiavo’s chief medical witness, Dr. Ronald Cranford, who only saw Terri for about 45 minutes. Dr. Hammesfahr, a well-known neurologist, spent more than four and a half hours with Terri and believes she is not in a persistent vegetative state.
George Felos, Schiavo’s attorney, petitioned the court to have Richard Pierce, a former court-appointed guardian ad litem replaced, and it was allowed.
This weekend the court appointed a new guardian at litem, Dr. Jay Wolfson, a professor of health and law at Stetson University. “He’s opposed to Governor Bush’s action and has said so openly in the newspapers,” Schindler said. “That should be enough to disqualify him, but it hasn’t, and this frightens me.”
Schiavo repeatedly insisted on Larry King that he loves Terri and wants to respect her wishes not to be kept alive by artificial means. He claimed two other people could corroborate this evidence. What he didn’t say was that those two people happened to be his own brother and sister-in-law.
“Felos brought in the brother and sister-in-law at the very last minute, within a week or two of the trial,” Schindler said. “We never had an opportunity to do a deposition on them. Felos blindsided us.”
In spite of Governor Bush’s heroic actions, the battle to save Terri’s life is far from over. “It’s very possible that Terri’s Bill will be overturned,” Schindler admits. “It’s just a temporary thing in the eyes of our attorney. If it doesn’t hold up, we’re back where we started from.”
But they haven’t given up hope. “She’s still tired and weak from the ordeal,” Schindler said after seeing his daughter on Sunday, Nov. 2. “She hasn’t recovered yet. I was teasing her today, like I always do, threatening to kiss her, and she was coming back at me. She doesn’t use her vocal chords, but she was giving me a ‘get out of my face’ kind of thing. There’s so much life in her. It’s just a matter of getting her proper therapy.”
November 6, 2003
Catholic Standard and Times