Terri responding to her mother in video clip available on terrisfight.org
Posted on 01/05/2005 12:26:07 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
LIFE AND DEATH TUG OF WAR
Surprised lawyer finds
Terri Schiavo alert
1st visit contradicts claims of 'persistent vegetative state'
Despite the widely believed claims of her husband, Terri Schiavo is purposefully interactive, curious and expressive with her parents, according to a surprised lawyer who visited for the first time the brain-damaged Florida woman embroiled in a euthanasia dispute.
Terri responding to her mother in video clip available on terrisfight.org |
After a 45-minute visit Christmas Eve, attorney Barbara Weller concluded Schiavo was so alert that she "should have been gathered around the Christmas dinner table enjoying the holiday with her family."
Weller, along with attorney David Gibbs, took over the lead counsel role in September for Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, who are in a protracted legal battle with her husband, Michael Schiavo, to keep their daughter alive.
Gibbs also was present during the Dec. 24 visit.
Not knowing what to expect, Weller said in a narrative posted on the family website she "prepared for the possibility that the Schindlers love their daughter and sister so much that they might imagine behaviors by Terri that aren't actually evident to others."
But she was "very surprised" to find that, "From the moment we entered the room, my impression was that Terri was very purposeful and interactive and she seemed very curious about the presence of obvious strangers in her room."
Noting that Terri was not in bed but dressed and groomed and sitting in a chair without any tubes attached, Weller wrote:
The thing that surprised me the most about Terri as I took my turn to greet her by the side of her chair was how beautiful she is. I would have expected to see someone with a sallow and gray complexion and a sick looking countenance. Instead, I saw a very pretty woman with a peaches and cream complexion and a lovely smile, which she even politely extended to me as I introduced myself to her. I was amazed that someone who had not been outside for so many years and who received such minimal health care could look so beautiful. She appeared to have an inner light radiating from her face. I was truly taken aback by her beauty, particularly under the adverse circumstances in which she has found herself for so many years.
As WorldNetDaily has reported, Terri collapsed in 1990 in the couple's St. Petersburg apartment. For reasons never satisfactorily explained, oxygen to her brain was cut off for several minutes, leaving her unable to talk and dependent on a feeding tube for food and hydration at the age of 26.
In a 2000 trial, Michael Schiavo persuaded Florida probate Judge George Greer that Terri is in a "persistent vegetative state," which in the absence of a written directive, allowed Michael Schiavo to request removal of her feeding tube.
In November, however, Greer ruled the tube cannot be removed until the Schindlers have exhausted all avenues in their quest for a new trial to determine whether or not their daughter would want to be starved to death.
Michael Schiavo insists he simply is carrying out his wife's wishes, but Terri's parents contend Terri is alert, has a strong will to live and could be significantly rehabilitated with aggressive therapy. More than a dozen physicians, therapists and speech pathologists have stepped forward to state agreement with the Schindlers.
The parents also assert Michael Schiavo's interests are conflicted since he has lived with another woman for at least nine years with whom he has had two children.
Weller said that during the visit Dec. 24, "Terri's parents, sister and niece went immediately to greet Terri when we entered the room and stood in turn directly beside her head, stroking her face, kissing her and talking quietly with her.
"When she heard their voices, and particularly her mother's voice, Terri instantly turned her head towards them and smiled," Weller continued. "Terri established eye contact with her family, particularly with her mother, who spent the most time with her during our visit."
Weller said the "whole experience was rather moving."
"Terri definitely has a personality," she said. "Her whole demeanor definitely changes when her mother speaks with her. She lights up and appears to be delighted at the interaction. She has an entirely different reaction to her father who jokes with her and has several standing jokes that he uses when he enters and exits her presence."
Weller said she "never imagined Terri would be so active, curious, and purposeful."
"She watched people intently, obviously was attempting to communicate with each one in various ways and with various facial expressions and sounds," she said. "She was definitely not in a coma, not even close. This visit certainly shed more light for me on why the Schindlers are fighting so hard to protect her, to get her medical care and rehabilitative assistance, and to spend all they have to protect her life."
Court documents and other information are posted on the Schindler family website.
Links to all "Terri briefs" regarding the governor's defense of Terri's Law are on the Florida Supreme Court website, public information.
That said, thank you, Lord, for this development.
Please continue to protect Terri.
Amen.
This is a beautiful and touching article, but unfortunately it won't sway anyone from the other side. I thought about posting this on another board where Terri is debated, but I know already what they'll say. "It's the schindler's lawyer, of course she says this, she's paid to say this, bla bla bla" It's incredible what lengths they'll go to deny that Terri has any cognition or capabilities whatsoever, while of course any claim made by Michael, Felos and co. are accepted without any proof or debate.
He interviewed Terri's father, and others involved for the fight for Terri's life.
Her hospice care has been horrible, to say the least. She does not get sun into her room, has not been outside, nor has she had her teeth brushed in months.
If this were an animal, most people would be up in arms in this lack of treatment.
Thanks for the ping!
So very well said ... dittos!
Has the Catholic church condemned this bum?
I hope so, in which case I would think the so-called "fiancee"
would be ashamed to darken the door of a Catholic church.
All things considered then, shouldn't those responsible for approving the removal of her feeding tubes last year, be charged with abetting attempted murder?
I have never heard this put more succintly, you should email this to WND and other news outlets NYer!
As long as he doesn't break his vows to Terri, and becomes her widower, the church will allow him and his fiance to marry in a catholic ceremony.
At least that is my understanding at this time.
If he has 2 kids by his "live-in-lover", I'd say he already broke his vows.
It's hard to believe there isn't a legal way out of this for Terri.
I guess if there were, someone would have thought of it by now.
If she were my daughter I would have gotten her out of that hospital, even if I had to kidnap her.
I'm sure there are plenty of sympathetic people down there who would help them.
I understand your frustration with this situation!! I live in Colorado, and can't do much...I pray...alot!!
Divorce is considered one of the worst sins in the Catholic faith. As long as he stays married to her, he is on the "Good boy" roster for the church. But, to be able to move on with his fiance...Terri has to die.
The fiance has already had 2 children by him. Clearly he has broken his vows a minimum of twice.
Besides Michael's refusal to divorce Terri, Terri's family can't gain guardianship of her because Judge George Greer will not bring the guardianship case to court. Greer keeps postponing the depositions so that Michael and his fiancee, Jodi Centonze (the mother of his two children), will not need to testify under oath. At one point in August they didn't show up at the scheduled depositions because of grieving for Jodi's mom who had just passed away. Well, that was in August and still no depositions have taken place. Greer refuses to issue a written order to force Michael to comply with his oral orders. Wouldn't the rest of us have been jailed on contempt of court charges by now? Greer is incompetent.
People who believe that euthanasia is just a nice word for "death with dignity" are fools for not seeing the handwriting on the wall. They will be sorry one day!
PINGED AGAIN
I agree. The evil is there and we must recognize it for what it is.
Greer is not only incompetent, he's corrupt!!
The lawyer was surprised only because she was preparing for the idea that maybe Michael and his lawyer were telling the truth. She was just trying to be objective. I'm sure it was a pleasant surprise to know for sure that the Schindlers actually know their daughter and sister better than hubby.
Everyone should click on the link in the article and read the unexcerpted view of Barbara Weller. It is very thoughtful, and I'm glad to see WND keeping up with Terri's story so well.
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