Editor’s Note: Schiavo Case Lives On

Friends and family of Terri Schindler-Schiavo, 41, routinely said in past years, and more recently in the final months of her life, that the Pennsylvania native probably would have not liked all the fuss being made about her.

For Terri, who worked for a time in a Florida insurance agency, the media spotlight shone on her like it or not.

Terri lost her more than decade-long battle back in March when she died some 13 days after her feeding tube had been removed.

I guess what captured my attention to this saga were several things. First, Terri was a native Pennsylvanian like myself. Secondly, she was barely two years older than me. Third, she worked for a time as I have in the insurance industry.

That being said, I still to this day wonder about how an apparent healthy young woman suddenly collapses one day back in 1990 and never knows again what it is like to live a normal life.

Terri went into a coma but awakened from her comatose state weeks later. She was left in what some medical professionals call a “locked in state” with limited abilities to communicate or move. During the initial months that followed Terri’s mysterious collapse, she reportedly made progress. Medical practitioners marked her efforts to speak and her responsiveness.

Throughout the following years, she remained significantly disabled. Though she was reportedly responsive to stimuli, interacted with her environment and her loved ones and was able to communicate in limited ways, she was a disabled and vulnerable adult -requiring protection, therapy and the route to recovery.

In 1998, Terri’s estranged husband petitioned the circuit courts of Pinellas County, Florida to end her life by removing her feeding tube. From March 18, 2005 through March 31, 2005, Terri was denied enteral nourishment and food and water by mouth. Even though there are laws in place to protect her from such things, the courts determined that her reported wish would be a death from dehydration and starvation as opposed to therapy and rehabilitation.

I’m still left wondering, about these questions. Why husband Michael would simply not divorce her and let her family take care of her? Was Michael eyeing up a reported insurance settlement that he would receive upon her passing? Why would Michael not let Terri’s family be with her in her final moments? Why would Michael reportedly not tell Terri’s parents where she was laid to rest?

Now before we paint Michael as the worst man in America, he is entitled to his side of the story. My only problem is that his side of the story doesn’t smell too good from where I sit.

One thing, however, is for sure. While only 40 years old, I’ve already begun the process of securing a living will so that I do not have a big fuss being made of me some day. The educational experience to come out of this case was an eye opener for many of us.
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