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Horseheads woman battling for guardianship of vegetative husband
It's a custody battle that rages on in Horseheads. Sara Harvey is fighting to be the guardian of her husband, Gary, who has been in a vegetative state since 2006. But a judge has ruled she is unfit to take care of him properly. Our Vince Slomsky tells us just some of this complex story and what might happen next.
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HORSEHEADS, N.Y. -- Sara and Gary Harvey met at work. They married each other in 1998.
“We had a beautiful relationship. Just loving," said Sara Harvey.
Gary was a relatively healthy person, until January 21st, 2006. He had a heart attack inside their home in Horseheads and fell down these stairs suffering a severe brain injury. From that day on, he's been in a vegetative state relying on others to keep him alive. The majority of his time has been spent in the Chemung County Nursing Facility, but Sara says they do not provide him with the care he needs.
"I feel that he gets inadequate care. I mean with over four dozen ER trips, how would you think," said Sara.
But Sara is actually not even her husband's guardian, the county of Chemung is. A judge ruled she was unfit to care for her husband in 2007, and she says it all stems from an incident on September 16th, 2006. She said her husband's tracheotomy tube was defective, but the nurse at the nursing facility would not replace it.
"I cut it, and I used their scissors, and I told her I was going to do that and she didn't stop me. I wasn't trying to harm him in any way, I was trying to bring the matter to attention," she said.
A few hours later, the tube was replaced. But Chemung County Attorney Bryan Maggs says there were other incidents as well, such as wheeling him outside and placing flavors in his mouth.
“There were other instances where she was acting completely inappropriately, in a, well I'll just leave it at that, in an inappropriate way trying to do things with her husband that he was obviously incapable of doing physically," he said.
Sara says on May 29th of this year, the county and the ethics committee at St. Josephs Hospital decided to end Gary's life by removing his feeding tube.
"The doctors consulted and discussed what his medical needs were and what course of procedure would be most appropriate given his very severe needs and they came out with a course of action," said Maggs.
Sara says she was able to get the decision overturned but fears that it may happen again. She wants to care for Gary herself at their home and she has everything he needs to do so.
"I want my husband home for the holidays. He's a veteran. He's fought for freedom and he's denied his freedom," she said.
It is a matter likely headed back to the courts. The county attorney tells us they never wanted to be the guardians but after Sara was found unfit no other family members stepped forward. He also says Gary's condition is so severe that she would never be able to provide the care he needs.
Both sides are anticipating a court hearing soon on the guardianship battle.
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