Posted on 05/07/2005 11:22:02 PM PDT by kingattax
The family of Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged woman who died in March after her feeding tube was removed, say that they have no idea where her ashes have been laid to rest.
Giving their first interview since the tube was removed at the request of Mrs Schiavo's husband, the family claimed on American television that he was keeping her remains from them.
Bob and Mary Schindler, and their surviving children, Bobby Jr and Suzanne, claimed that Michael Schiavo had ignored a court order that he should keep them informed about her ashes and plans for a memorial service.
Mr Schiavo had said that her ashes would be buried at a family plot in Pennsylvania.
The interview on Fox News on Friday night was the latest skirmish in the bitter battle between the two sides of the family, who waged a long-running court battle over Mrs Schiavo's end-of-life wishes.
"We still don't know where Terri's ashes were laid," Bobby Jr said. "They were court-ordered, they were supposed to tell us, but we have not heard from Michael Schiavo."
Mr Schiavo's lawyer, George Felos, could not be reached for comment.
Mr Schindler countered claims by the lawyer that his daughter's death was "gentle" with a harrowing description of her condition after 13 days without food or water.
"She was struggling to breathe," he said. "The inside of her mouth looked like a piece of meat in a meat market. It was like meat that had been left out for a while.
"It was reddish maroon because her mouth was dry and her lips were cracking from the lack of hydration.
"This cannot happen again. If anyone would have witnessed it, they would have been so appalled that they would never allow it to happen again."
He said it had been "gut-wrenching" to watch her deteriorate.
"People were misled that it was a peaceful way for her to die," he said. "All you could see was her cheekbones. Her eyes were sunken in her head."
Terri Schiavo, 41, died in a hospice in Florida on March 31. She had suffered brain damage in 1990 after a chemical imbalance caused her heart to stop. She left no "living will" in the event that she became disabled.
Mr Schiavo argued that she would not have wanted to be kept alive after court-appointed doctors diagnosed that she was in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. The Schindlers, however, disputed that those were her wishes and argued that their daughter would benefit from extensive efforts to rehabilitate her.
During the interview they referred to the case of Donald Herbert, the New York fireman who suddenly woke up after 10 years in a semi-vegetative state and spoke lucidly to his wife.
Mr Herbert, 43, was knocked unconscious by debris in a burning building in 1995, leaving him blind and mostly mute until last Saturday.
"We immediately thought of Terri," said Suzanne. "What if they had given up on him?"
Mrs Schiavo's case attracted international attention and sparked a heated political and ethical debate as a series of judges ruled against the Schindler family.
The US Supreme Court refused to intervene even after President George W Bush signed a law allowing federal courts to become involved. "The system is just atrocious," Mr Schindler said.
Her family said that they believed she had been the victim of violence when she collapsed at home and her heart stopped. They said that there was no proof that she had collapsed because she was suffering from bulimia, insisting that she had lost weight several years earlier.
Bobby Jr said that the family was only made aware in 2002 of a bone scan taken a year after the incident. This showed that she had broken ribs, vertebrae, femur and knees. Mr Schiavo said that she suffered the injuries during her early treatment.
The family has set up the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation to speak out on behalf of others in a similar situation.
"Anyone out there, listening and watching, they should never ever let this happen to anyone else," Mr Schindler said.
Why isn't the dear grieving widower hauled into court for contempt???
Anyone know what happened to the autopsy report?
Complete horsecrap. Scans prove nothing. Autopsy is due out shortly it would be best to wait for the results.
Mikey continues with his power trip, creepy old Felos can't be reached for comment, and judge greer is off getting an award.
Laugh, you fools, one day many years in the future you will face judgment in the next world and then we'll see what you have to say for yourselves.
And hopefully, at that time, the Schindler family will be reunited around the throne in Heaven.
Terri?
Not that you're going to believe it. Might just as well start discrediting it now.
(Hint: You can say you heard that the autopsy report will show _____. Then make up something.)
That's right. Just keep on spinning and denying and making excuses not just for the rogue judiciary in FL, but for yourself as well. I just wish my denial wiped out my conscience. Life would be easier.
Learn to read.
What should I learn to read? That he was in an almost, or sort of like, or nearly PVS all those years according to his MD's diagnosis after he awoke? (Before he started talking he was definitely PVS just like Terri.) Thank you for your brilliant suggestion and let me make a recommendation that you learn to think while you read. It could open your mind to a whole new world. Never mind, scratch the last sentence.
N-E-W Y-O-R-K spells New York, not Florida. That's what you should learn to read.
"Before he started talking he was definitely PVS just like Terri."
WHAT?
He was not in a PVS and was even able to eat and drink.
bttt
I take back what I said about learning to think about what you're reading. You need a remedial class in READING if we have both read the same materials on the fireman in N.Y. His doctor decided AFTER he woke up and started talking that he had only been "near" PVS; prior to that, for 10 yrs., he was diagnosed as being in PVS, which was also what court appointed MD's said was Terri's diagnosis. Also, he has had a feeding tube for 10 years. If this is not clear enough, don't bother me any more and I promise I will just ignore all of your future posts regardless of topic.
Find one, just one, article where it says he was diagnosed by a doctor as PVS for 10 years. And if you cannot, then stop comparing him to Terri.
"Joseph Fins, a professor at the Weill Cornell Medical Centre in New York, said that Mr Herbert appeared to have been in a “minimally conscious state”, rather than a “persistent vegetative state”."
-- timesonline.co.uk
"Also, he has had a feeding tube for 10 years."
Wrong again, Bucko. From the same source:
"When he regained consciousness, his speech was slurred, he was unable to eat without help and he was nearly blind. He could no longer remember how old he was or what his job had been and was unable to recognise family members."
Why aren't we a bit surly! Why whatever makes you think that?
Tell me I'm wrong.
And these folks want remains why?
CNN.com 5/5/05 HEALTH: "Miracle" firefighter received experimental drug treatment: In the past several years, his condition had sunk into a near persistent vegetative state, Ahmed said. When asked what he anticipates in Herbert's future, Ahmed said he expects Herbert to speak more, to walk, and TO EAT.
Ahmed is his attending physician who gave him the drug combination. I doubt that Joseph Fins has ever actually seen Mr. Herbert with his own eyes. Many articles refer to Herbert as sitting all day in his wheelchair in front of a TV that he is unable to see due to his blindness, drooling all over himself. (Doesn't seem like he could swallow food if he can't swallow saliva.) Perhaps what Fins is referring to is a feeding tube when he says "unable to eat without help."
I think it is apparent we have NOT read the same articles. Fins was never mentioned in any articles I read and most had a Buffalo byline. Also watched the press conference with his family, the MD, etc. If you need more info, you spend your time "googling" it.
And Ahmed was referring to "eating unassisted". Mr. Herbert did not have a feeding tube.
How evil of Michael to deny Terri's parents access to her remains. I heard someone say, "well, maybe he hasn't had the memorial service yet?" One would have to wonder why he has not had the memorial service yet?
It is cruel to deny the parents access to their daughters remains.
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