"The Next Book You Read"

[achebeautiful]

Here is some information on a new book that's out that promises to be very revealing. It's one that I am sure to purchase, and challenge everyone else to do the same.




Fighting for Dear Life: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo and What It Means for All of Us
~ David Gibbs and Bob DeMoss


Description: Why Does Terri Schiavo's Life--and Death--Matter for America?

David Gibbs took a leap of faith in 2003 when Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's parents, asked him to represent them in their desperate battle to save their daughter's life. Taking the case, Gibbs embarked on a compelling journey that would forever change his life. He watched Terri fade away in her final days and was with Mary Schindler the last time she saw Terri alive. He witnessed what the media did not see or report: that Terri was not a vegetable; that she laughed, cried, and responded to verbal commands; and that yes, her life was very much worth saving.

David Gibbs says,
"After Terri died, Bob and Mary asked me to tell what really happened--specifically the tragedy of this landmark case--so that many others would be spared from a similar fate. I make no apology that, from my perspective, what happened to Terri was wrong. Very wrong. Maybe you agree. Then again, maybe you disagree, or the jury is still out in your mind. I believe if you will join me as I present my case, you will come to understand:

Why I fought for Terri.
Why I'd do it again.
And why I'd fight for you, too.

Now, read the story for yourself and learn how you can protect yourself and your family against a similar tragedy."

Endorsements: "Fighting for Dear Life proclaims the clear message that we long for the world to hear. David fought courageously to save Terri’s life and loved our family during some of the darkest hours of our lives."
--Bob and Mary Schindler, Parents of Terri Schiavo

"As a quadriplegic, I thank God for courageous advocates like my friend David Gibbs who hold fast to life values no matter how severe the circumstances. In Fighting for Dear Life David presents thoughtful arguments and practical advice that will help the reader forge an honorable path through the legal, medical, and moral complexities of life. I highly recommend this excellent book."
--Joni Eareckson Tada, Joni and Friends International Disability Center

"Many thanks to David Gibbs for providing us with a powerful insider's look into the inhumane, court-ordered injustice perpetrated against Terri Schiavo. No reader of this book will be able to remain unconcerned about the chilling precedent her case sets and its implications for the future. It's a moving and compelling reminder of why we need to defend those who cannot speak for themselves and uphold the sanctity of all human life!"
--Jim Daly, President, Focus on the Family

"One of the most gut-wrenching stories in recent years was the deliberate, systematic, court-ordered starvation of Terri Schiavo. David Gibbs lll, the Christian attorney who fought so valiantly to save her life, has now written a gripping account of the fight to save Terri. This book, entitled Fighting For Dear Life, is a wake up call to a society that shrugs its collective shoulders as to how we treat the most vulnerable among us."
--D. James Kennedy, PhD, Senior Minister, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

"David Gibbs argues convincingly that life is a precious gift from God that must be protected."
--Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida

"Regardless of where you stand on the life and death of Terri Schindler Schiavo, the story of both the legal and human struggle she represents remains one to which we should all listen."
--Nancy A. Grace, Host of CNN-Headline News' Nancy Grace show and Court TV's Nancy Grace's Closing Argument

"Attorney Gibbs makes the case for people like me to be allowed to live. I am so thankful that my husband didn't let me die because of my 'quality of life.' This could be the most important book you ever read."
--Kate Adamson, Author of Triumph Over Adversity

"Americans are indebted to David Gibbs for bringing to light a wealth of insider information never reported on the Terri Schaivo case. His expert legal and eye-witness account is unmatched. A must read."
--Joseph Farah, WorldNetDaily.com

"My heart was deeply moved by this touching and thought provoking account! My husband and I prayed diligently for Terri and for the Schindlers as he, as well as I, greatly value every precious life. I thank God for the compassionate and valiant stand of David Gibbs. May this book be used greatly to promote the value of every single life."
--Joyce (Mrs. Adrian) Rogers


Author Information: David Gibbs defends the rights of churches and Christians nationwide as a legal missionary attorney through Gibbs Law Firm and the Christian Law Association. He’s a graduate of Liberty University and received his law degree from Duke University. He co-hosts The Legal Alert, heard on more than 1,000 radio stations daily, and he has appeared on many major news and talk shows including Larry King Live, Fox & Friends, Hannity & Colmes, Nancy Grace, The Michael Reagan Show, and Face the Nation. David, his wife, and their four children make their home in Florida.

Bob DeMoss served seven years as Youth Cultural Specialist for Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family. He has hosted his Learn to Discern: Help for a Generation at Risk seminar in more than 300 cities worldwide and has appeared on numerous national radio and television shows, including Good Morning, America. As a New York Times bestselling writer, he has coauthored books with Dennis Rainey, Tim LaHaye, and Point of Grace. A father of four, Bob and his family live in Franklin, Tennessee.

Reviews: "Fighting For Dear Life is an interesting book. It's a shocking book. It is nearly enough to make a reader scream in frustration as he sees attempt after attempt to save Terri's life end in failure. This woman, though certainly handicapped, was just as certainly alive and active. Her death was a grave injustice that does mark a low point in American history. Perhaps reading this book ... will stir people to grapple with the issues that led to her untimely and unfair death. We can only hope that her death will not have been in vain." --Tim Challies, challies.com

"Written with a lawyer's attention to detail and arranged in a concise chronological order, this book contains all the pertinent and powerful facts. Readers' reactions will range from sadness to shock to outrage at the miscarriage of justice shown in this situation. Interestingly, David Gibbs doesn’t offer his own heated opinions on this issue; rather, he lets the testimony speak for itself. And with the inclusion of newspaper and magazine articles, legal statements, and actual observations from eyewitnesses, this collection of information leads to only one truth: Terri Schiavo endured an unnecessary and painful death.

Although the book centers on this one woman, the author consistently leads readers to understand the far-reaching significance of this issue, and encourages every American to be aware of the legal ramifications of this case. The final pages offer a Christian response to this tragedy, which is to humbly beseech the living God to change the hearts of those in our great nation. Prayer is more powerful than any legal petition, and that thought closes this moving account with the hope of a perfect and future triumph." --Joyce Handzo, Christian Book Previews.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART ONE: THIS DAY WE FIGHT
1. Fighting for Dear Life
2. Seeing Is Believing
3. Life on Trial
4. Terri’s Law
5. Doctor's Orders
6. Is There a Doctor in the House?
7. In Sickness and In Health
8. Your Honor, I Object!
9. Let’s Make a Deal
PART TWO: TERRI’S FIGHT FOR LIFE
10. Terri's Only Crime
11. Terri’s Last Meal
12. The Big Lie
13. Washington Weighs In
14. Litigating at the Speed of Light
15. A Mother's Heart
16. Until We Meet Again
PART THREE: FIGHTING FOR OUR FUTURE
17. Supreme Denial
18. Examining the Medical Examiner's Report
19. The $64,000 Question
20. A Life Worth Living
21. Every Day's a Gift
22. The Least of These
23. If There's a Will There's a Way
24. Life Support in View of Eternity
25. Brave New World?
26. If My People
Afterword
Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions: Terri and the Case
Appendix B: Sample Form: Designation of Health Care Surrogate
Appendix C: Full Text of Terri's Law: October 2003
Appendix D: Text of the Act of Congress: March 2005
Notes

[achebeautiful]

"Fighting For Dear Life" EXCERPT:


Chapter One
FIGHTING FOR DEAR LIFE

The first duty of government is the protection of life, not its destruction. The chief purpose of government is to protect life. Abandon that and you have abandoned all.
—Thomas Jefferson
Terri Schiavo is dead.

Nothing in this book will change that fact. The time for making motions and filing appeals is over. My clients, Bob and Mary Schindler, have no recourse. Terri, that precious daughter they carefully bundled up and carried home from a Philadelphia hospital back in December of 1963 was, on March 31, 2005, removed from their loving arms and reduced to ashes.

As much as I'd like to bring Terri back from the grave, I can't. You might be wondering why, then, would I write this book? What is the point of revisiting the painful details that have been rehashed a thousand times in the media? Let me offer three reasons why I feel compelled to tell Terri's story. The first is quite simple.

I was there.

I witnessed firsthand what transpired both in the courtroom and behind the scenes. I sat and visited with Terri on numerous occasions. I looked into her eyes. I spoke and laughed with her. I watched Terri's family interact with her in ways nobody in the media ever saw. And I was in her room the day her feeding tube was removed ... as well as shortly before Terri took her final breath.

Not one reporter from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, the New York Times, or the international media community ever set foot in Terri's room. I can't blame them—they were denied entrance by Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo. For reasons known only to Michael, he did not want the world to see Terri as she was: a disabled, yet fully alive, spirited woman.

Perhaps more troubling was the behavior of Judge George Greer, who held the very heartbeat of Terri's life in his hands. For reasons I still do not understand, Judge Greer refused to go and meet Terri Schiavo, watch her interact with her mother, or call her as a witness in his courtroom—even though he was assigned with the task of deciding Terri's ultimate fate.

In this regard, I had unmatched access to the truth of Terri's condition ... the truth that has been withheld from you, the truth that we were not able to introduce as evidence in court. Indeed, I write because it's impossible for me to remain silent. As one of the few eyewitnesses, I have an obligation to you and to our country. I must confront the gross misrepresentations and outright fabrications that some are using to justify future abuses against thousands of those whose "quality of life" has been called into question.

What's more, the wall-to-wall media coverage during Terri's final days made her story one of the top media events of 2005. Yet a tremendous amount of confusion still lingers in the minds of most Americans as to what really happened. Everywhere I travel, people voice conflicting opinions about Terri's story.

Many people have told me they cannot understand why she had to die. They fear the judicial branch is unaccountable and out of control. They can't comprehend why Michael Schiavo paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure his wife's death—monies that should have been earmarked for her rehabilitation from a medical malpractice lawsuit. Others believe the Florida legislature, the U.S. Congress, and President George W. Bush had no business meddling in a "private" family affair. This confusion and division is especially evident in the legal, medical, and other professional communities.

I believe the reason our country is wrestling with these questions is because, at some deeper level, we instinctively realize something profoundly wrong has happened. The Terri Schiavo case is to our generation what Roe v. Wade was to our parents' generation.

Life itself was on trial.

I believe if "We the People" fail to stand for life in the wake of Terri's death, the intrinsic value of life for the infirm, the elderly, and the disabled will be severely diluted. Even the self-proclaimed atheist and well-known liberal journalist Nat Hentoff called the dehydration and starvation of Terri Schiavo "the longest public execution in American history," and he believes America has already lost her way.

There are some who say that our nation is simply unable or unwilling to appropriately face death as a culture. While I do agree that our nation is obsessed with youth and physical beauty, pro-euthanasia proponents claim that we are trying to run from death and avoid it at all costs. Their argument is that, although Terri wanted to die, her family and others simply did not want to face the ugly prospect of that fact. The Schindlers and I, and many millions of others who prayed that Terri's life might be spared, however, are not denying death's inevitability or suffering from some sense of cultural denial toward its prospect.

I understand that modern medicine has the technology to keep a flatline corpse "alive" indefinitely if so desired. It's entirely possible to keep the lungs working and the heart beating through machinery long after a person is dead. I'm not in favor of that. The Bible says there is "a time to be born, and a time to die" (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Sadly, the notion that Terri was already "dead and gone" was the most common misconception circulating about her.

We were not fighting against an inevitable or natural death; we were fighting against the unnatural, premature death of someone who did not deserve to die. There is a huge difference between fighting for legitimate life and being in denial when it's simply "someone's time to go."

Quite simply, it was not Terri's time to go.

Second, I write because I was raised to love and respect America and the rule of law. When I was a child, my parents encouraged me to memorize the Pledge of Allegiance. They taught me about the faith of our forefathers who founded the United States with their sacrifice and blood. I came to believe America was the greatest, kindest, and most generous nation in the world. But when the Supreme Court refused to grant our final appeal to rescue Terri from death, I thought, Dear Lord, how, as a nation, have we reached this point? For the first time in my life, I was embarrassed to be an American.

Here is what troubled me:

America has sent men and women overseas to fight the atrocities and human abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq. For decades we have had a rich history of opposing brutal dictators—Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic, Adolf Hitler, among others—for torturing and gassing to death their own people. Yet here at home on our soil, with the full blessing of our courts and under the alleged authority of American law, we were engaged in an equally barbaric act.

The third motivation for creating this eyewitness account flows from the tears of Mary Schindler, Terri's mother. There are some things law school cannot prepare you for. One such event was the afternoon Mary and I walked out of Terri's hospice room for what would be the last time Mary would see her daughter this side of heaven. Mary turned to me and said, "David, I'm no lawyer and I'm no doctor. But what I don't understand is why did they have to kill my little girl?"

That is the troubling moral dilemma.

When I first became involved with this case, Bob and Mary Schindler asked me to do anything that we could think of that was both legal and proper to save the life of their daughter. After Terri died, Bob and Mary asked me to tell what really happened—specifically the trial and error of this landmark case—so that many others would be spared from a similar fate.

I make no apology that, from my perspective, what happened to Terri was wrong. Very wrong. Maybe you agree. Then again, maybe you disagree, or the jury is still out in your mind. I believe if you will join me as I present my case, you will come to understand:

Why I fought for Terri.

Why I'd do it again.

And why I'd fight for you too.

[achebeautiful]

Chapter Two
SEEING IS BELIEVING

Theresa Schiavo didn't have a written living will. She didn't specify in writing what her wishes were, so we had to rely on oral statements.
—George Felos, Attorney for Michael Schiavo

In the predawn hours of February 25, 1990, twenty-six-year-old Terri Schiavo collapsed while home alone with her husband. Deprived of oxygen for several minutes, Terri was rendered a brain-injured woman and later was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state (known as PVS). More than fifteen years later the cause of her trauma remains unknown.

On many occasions, through watching news reports as a concerned citizen, before I even knew the Schindlers or their daughter, I had heard various descriptions of Terri and her condition.

However, some things defy description.

Take the Grand Canyon. There are simply nowords, pictures, or movies that can capture the magnitude of this 277-mile long, five-thousand-foot-deep breach in the earth's crust. A postcard from the gift shop will never take your breath away. But to linger at the edge of the Grand Canyon's North Rim—there's nothing like it. It's life changing.

How about gazing upward at the impossibly massive arms of a six-~hundred-year-old California Redwood ... or swimming with the dolphins in the Florida Keys ... or bringing a newborn baby home from the hospital? To comprehend and appreciate these things, you just have to experience them for yourself. Nothing else will do.

Here's the connection to Terri Schiavo.

As an eyewitness, I can attest that there was a tremendous volume of misinformation circulated by some in the media about Terri. While many in the media genuinely understood and sympathized with Terri's fight for life, in general, the American public was—and continues to be—misled as to the true nature of Terri's medical condition prior to her death. Why? I particularly fault many in the mainstream press for their lack of due diligence. Rather than digging deep to authenticate her status—rather than pushing to see Terri for themselves—most chose to rehash secondhand, unverified information.

Published reports said Terri was "in a coma" ... she was on "life support" ... she was a "vegetable" ... she was "brain-dead" ... she was "unresponsive" ... she was on "the verge of death" ... she needed a "respirator to breathe." What's more, virtually every statement by Michael Schiavo and his attorney George Felos reinforced these descriptions that we found—as you'll see—to be completely false.

I am convinced Terri's life never would have been snuffed out if what I saw with my own eyes had been reported by more of those in the press. Granted, the short visitor list enforced by Michael Schiavo and the court restricted access to Terri. That would be an obstacle for the press, no question. But they should have gone deeper, pushed harder.

In this case the public was often misled to arrive at some erroneous conclusions. Probably like you, I had initially carried with me a number of wrong assumptions based on what was available through the media.

When I went to see Terri for the first time in late 2004, I didn't really know what to expect. Was she pale? Was she stretched out in a bed, immobile, a living corpse? Would she respond to me? Would she even know I was there? Or, as some had suggested, were her parents the problem? Were the Schindlers delusional and unwilling to acknowledge that Terri was, in fact, comatose? I decided to prepare myself for the possibility that the Schindlers may have loved their daughter so much that they were imagining signs of vitality.

But Terri was not terminal—or comatose.

Not even close.

Inside Woodside Hospice
As I will relate in the next chapter, I became involved with the Schindlers' case to save Terri in October 2003, but it was not until September 2004 that the Gibbs Law Firm officially became lead counsel for the family. Then it took another few months before I was added to Terri's official visitors list by Michael Schiavo, her court-appointed guardian.

On Christmas Eve, 2004, my legal colleague Barbara Weller and I traveled with Bob and Mary Schindler the short distance from our office to the hospice. Woodside Hospice is a sprawling, seventy-two-bed, one-story red brick complex nestled in the shadows of groomed hedges, flowering fuchsia bushes, and tall trees. Hand-painted birdhouses and wrought-iron benches accent the winding walking trails, creating an otherwise tranquil setting for the patients.

To be candid, I fully expected Terri to be hooked up to a battery of tubes and monitors necessary to keep her alive. I've been in intensive care situations; I've known people who were teetering on the brink of death. Like the rest of the country (and the world), my mental picture had been shaped by the press, so I envisioned Terri in some kind of medically severe situation—you know, like an episode from a prime-time hospital drama with a doctor barking out orders to the nurses.

I was sorely mistaken. In fact, I was in for the shock of my life.

When we entered her room, I found Terri sitting in a recliner with a holiday blanket draped across her lap. She was dressed and washed, and her hair had been brushed. By all outward appearances, she could have been waiting for the morning paper to be delivered or her favorite radio program to begin. I almost gawked at the scene: Absolutely nothing was hooked up to her. No IV drip. No monitors. No ventilator. There was no indication whatsoever of any form of artificial life support in use. Even the feeding tube was unattached to the port in Terri's stomach since it wasn't lunchtime.

During our forty-five minute initial visit, it was clear Terri understood who the different people were in the room. Hands down, Mary was Terri's favorite. I'm convinced there's a bond between a mother and a child that is established at birth, one that lasts a lifetime. And in Terri's situation, even as a forty-one-year-old woman, I believe some of her strength and her will to live was derived from that mother-daughter bond. To watch the two of them interact was nothing short of incredible.

At the sound of her mother's voice, Terri squealed with delight, filling the air with a host of happy sounds. She had this excited animation about her that was part giggle and part sheer joy. In fact, Terri could move, and she almost jumped out of the chair. She was clearly animated and responsive, and very much alive. I was wishing some reporters could have been present to record the events of that day. If even one minute of this interchange had been seen by the public, there is no way Terri would have died. I saw an unmistakable inner light radiating from Terri as she and her mother "loved on" each other. I am told by neurologists that people in PVS do not react to external stimuli in a purposeful manner with such human emotion.

Mary was the first one to hug Terri. She cradled Terri's face with her hands. With soft, slow strokes, Mary caressed Terri on the cheek. She kissed her daughter, and much to my surprise, Terri attempted to offer a sloppy kiss back. Now, Terri never could maneuver her lips completely, but she did her best to return the affection. Between kisses Mary said, "Merry Christmas, sweetheart. We're here to visit."

Then it was Bob's turn to greet his daughter.

Interestingly, Terri responded very differently to her dad. Bob had developed this playful routine he'd go through with her each time they were together. I watched Bob announce, "Here comes the hug" as he wrapped her in a bearlike embrace. Then Bob said, "You know what's coming next—the kiss!" He moved in close for a smooch. Keep in mind that Bob sports a scratchy mustache. His chin was often unshaved too, which caused his facial hair to tickle Terri's face.

Over the years, as she did during our visit, Terri would scrunch up her whole face in preparation for the assault on her cheeks that she knew was coming with Bob's scratchy kiss. Her family called this Terri's "lemon face." With a giggle, she'd turn her head away as if toying with her dad. In the end, she'd laugh as his lips made contact with her cheek. She responded the exact same way every time to her father's auditory cues as he consistently initiated this playful routine.

After his kiss Mary said, "Terri, I brought with us some new friends I want you to meet. This is Mr. Gibbs. He's an attorney who is helping us help you."

After Mary's brief introduction, I said, "Hi, Terri. It's so good to meet you. Merry Christmas!" An interesting thing happened as I spoke. Terri's eyes widened like saucers as if to say, "What's that new sound I hear?" I confess I have a very deep, resonant voice. Terri obviously picked up on it. Even though I was quickly convinced Terri could understand much more than the outside world had been led to believe, I decided to keep my interaction with her very simple.

Standing in front of her, I said, "I want you to know we're gonna fight for you, Terri. We want to get you home for the Fourth of July if we can win this." Although she was watching me intently, I couldn't help but wonder, Is she following any of this? Does she even recognize the fact that I'm standing right in front of her?

As a test, I decided to walk around her recliner while talking to see if she would follow my booming voice. I'm not a medical doctor. My training is in law. But neurologists have told me that, by definition, vegetative patients are not aware of external stimuli. I was guessing if Terri was truly in a "persistent vegetative state" as the press had been told (since they weren't allowed to see for themselves—Michael had forbidden it), she'd be oblivious to my little experiment.

I started to move behind her chair, saying, "Boy, Terri, won't it be nice to have Thanksgiving at home next year?" At first Terri's head had been cocked to her left. As I walked around and stood directly behind her, I started talking again. I had just run in our local Thanksgiving race, called the Turkey Trot, and the legal team had been joking about how great it would be to push Terri the three-plus miles in her chair the next year as a sort of victory lap.

"Terri, maybe you and your parents could go to the Turkey Trot and see some of your old friends next Thanksgiving." You know what she did? She flipped around trying to follow me. Wherever I would stand and talk, Terri tracked my position. Clearly, she had some degree of comprehension.

Was Terri brain-injured? No question. The injuries she suffered that night in her apartment would be with her for the rest of her life. She was not, however, brain-dead. If Terri were truly brain-dead, she would be unresponsive to any stimuli and devoid of all muscle activity. She would not be capable of moving in her chair or even breathing on her own. Was she disabled? No question. We never disputed that. But was she aware of us on some level?

Absolutely.

I retraced my steps and stood in front of this special lady. Terri flipped around again to keep me in view. Just as I was about to share a few more thoughts, Mary astonished me with a little demonstration of her own.

I Love You
Mary Schindler was a stay-at-home mother. She had no formal college education and certainly no specialized background in speech therapy or training in medical rehabilitation. She did, however, have a mother's love and affection, which ran deep for Terri. Mary drew close to her daughter and started to softly rub her on the cheek.

Mary said, "Now, Terri, I want you to show Mr. Gibbs some things." She continued to stimulate Terri's cheek. After a moment, Mary said, "Terri, say 'I.'"

My heart started to pound. Was it possible Terri would respond? In court the "experts" had testified that she was unresponsive. I was also aware that back on October 27, 2003, Larry King had asked Michael Schiavo about her ability to speak.

KING: Did she ever speak since 1990?
SCHIAVO: Terri never has spoken a word.
I braced myself. Would this woman, whom the court had ordered to die, begin to respond to basic verbal commands?

Terri obeyed her mom and said, "Ahhh."

I thought, That's not even possible. According to everything I'd read in the court documents and transcripts, as well as the numerous reports in the press, Terri was not aware of her environment and could not engage in voluntary behavioral responses, even when prompted. Yet here was Terri, verbalizing appropriate and different syllables at her mother's direction.

Mary stroked Terri's cheek some more and then said, "Good. Now, Terri, say 'love.'"

Terri got the "l" and said, "Laaa."

"Terri, say 'you.'"

We waited, but Terri couldn't get the "you."

Apparently certain letters were just too difficult for Terri to form with her mouth—at least without specialized instruction from a speech therapist. With more than a million-dollar malpractice award requested in 1992 for Terri's care and rehab, it was sad that her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, was spending that money on lawyers and not on Terri's rehabilitation, including speech therapy.

Undeterred, Mary said, "Here, let's do this again now." With great affection she said to her daughter, "Okay, Terri. Now come on and say 'I.'"

"Ahhh."

"Say 'love.'"

"Laaa."

"Say 'you.'"

Terri never managed to get the "you." Over the next ten or twelve minutes, I watched this woman obey her mom repeatedly as they worked on this one basic sentence. Throughout the exchange Terri searched Mary's face with a wonderment as if to say, "Did I do good?" As Mary offered affirmation, Terri's face literally shone as she basked in her mom's approval.

I found myself at a loss for words.

Here was a lady who was brain-injured and severely disabled, no question about that. Yet Terri recognized people, enjoyed the company of her family, and struggled to communicate. Interestingly, over the course of my future visits, Terri even warmed up to me. I'd walk in the room and start to talk to her as you would to a young child. She'd respond to my presence and appropriately jabber right back at me in her own way.

The time for our first visit was up.

As we said our good-byes and as her mother rose to leave, a remarkable thing happened: Tears began to roll down Terri's cheeks. I was told that almost every time Mary would visit and start to leave, Terri's great big tears would flow. No wonder the Schindlers thought there was no way the courts would ever buy the notion that Terri had no capacity to feel or that she should be ordered to die.

You might be wondering, But, David, how can this be? Wasn't she in a "vegetative state"?

Be careful when you hear the term "persistent vegetative state" (PVS). Don't allow yourself to think that PVS is a formal, fixed-in-stone medical diagnosis. It's not. I've learned that the PVS diagnosis is a gut-level guess at best. One 1996 British Medical Journal study suggested that doctors misdiagnose PVS approximately 43 percent of the time. Another neurologist told me the number of false positive vegetative diagnoses is higher in patients who are motor or visually impaired. Terri had been visually impaired since childhood and was motor impaired as a result of her collapse in 1990. This neurologist estimated the possibility of a misdiagnosis for Terri at 40 percent. I am also told that patients can transition in and out of PVS over time, so unpredictability is also a factor in a PVS diagnosis.

Are you sitting down?

Dr. Ronald Cranford was one of the neurologists used by Michael Schiavo to certify to the court that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state. Cranford was so confident of his diagnosis that he claimed he was "105 percent sure" Terri was PVS. In 1980, however, according to news reports Dr. Cranford made a similar declaration about another one of his patients—Police Sergeant David Mack. David had been shot while serving a warrant.

Cranford told David's relatives, "Sergeant Mack will never regain cognitive, sapient functioning. He will never be aware of his condition nor resume any degree of meaningful voluntary conscious interaction with his family or friends." Relying upon Dr. Cranford's prognosis, Mack's relatives made a life-and-death decision: They pulled the plug on his ventilator.

Guess what? Sergeant Mack didn't die. He continued to breathe and live on his own. Why? Dr. Cranford's unequivocal diagnosis of PVS was totally wrong. In fact, David Mack astonished his family by regaining his consciousness and communication skills.

You see, the American Academy of Neurology concedes that the PVS diagnosis is, "as with all clinical diagnoses in medicine, based on probabilities, not absolutes." In other words, a PVS diagnosis is merely an educated guess. Even with the amazing advances in medicine, physicians do not fully comprehend how the brain operates.

In fact, medical journals continue to report rapid discoveries and changes in this area, even as recently as during the last twelve months of Terri's life. For example, neurologists are learning that the brain has an ability to almost re-create itself by reconnecting around the parts that have been damaged.

I'll use a computer example to illustrate this breakthrough. When Judge Greer ordered Terri's death back in 2000, the prevailing thought at that time was that the brain was like a computer hard drive. If it's no longer functioning, we have no option but to discard it.

But by 2005 leading doctors and neurologists were saying, in effect, "No, the brain is not like a hard drive. It's more like the Internet." In other words, when a portion of it is injured, the brain can reorganize and reroute itself (called neuronal plasticity) and still do some amazing things. God has designed our bodies and brains to be resilient and reparative in ways we may never fully understand.

By the way, if Dr. Cranford was wrong about David Mack, isn't it possible that he was also wrong about Terri? Tragically, we'll never know for sure. One thing is certain in my view: If the American public had seen Terri with their own eyes like I did, they never would have let her die.

Does that sound like an overstatement?

Let me give you a bit of corroborating evidence from another person who saw Terri that Christmas Eve day in 2004. My associate Barbara Weller admits that, like me, she anticipated seeing a sickly person with an unwholesome, grayish skin coloration. Instead, Barbara found Terri to be "a very pretty woman with a peaches-and-cream complexion and a lovely smile." After our initial visit, Barbara noted in her journal:

I never imagined Terri would be so interactive, curious, and purposeful. I was truly taken aback by her beauty, particularly under the adverse circumstances in which she has found herself for so many years.
You see, for more than a decade Terri had not felt the warmth of the sun against her skin. Fresh air, the song of birds, and the rustling of squirrels scurrying about were simple pleasures she was not permitted to savor. Yet in spite of having existed in a warehouselike solitary confinement for many years, Terri appeared to be in remarkable shape to both Barbara and me.

And, though comfortable, Terri's living space where I visited her was not much wider than the width of two single beds and about as long as the average bedroom. A short hallway branching off the main corridor led to her room. In other words, the floor plan isolated Terri from the general population; Terri couldn't see out and there was no way for others to observe her from the hallway.

When pressed to give Terri some freedom, Michael repeatedly insisted that Terri be kept from mingling with the outside world. He refused to authorize the occasional stroll around the facility or across the parklike hospice grounds in her wheelchair.

Even for Christmas.

All I Want For Christmas
Christmas Eve was always difficult for the Schindlers. They longed to bring Terri home to enjoy the holidays together as a family. Keep in mind there was no medical reason why Terri couldn't travel across town for the afternoon. Granted, the hospice had been tastefully decorated. Several lighted Christmas trees were tucked in various alcoves around the facility. The nurses' station had a splash of colorful lights too.

Terri would have enjoyed seeing those decorations, but as you recall her husband said she wasn't permitted out of her room. The only festive display Terri had was the holiday blanket on her lap and a small plastic tree on her bedside table—a stark contrast to what her family would have prepared had she been allowed home for a few hours.

As Bob shared with me later, he and Mary returned on Christmas day to sit with Terri. A number of carolers strolled through the hallways, stopping in the patients' rooms to spread some Christmas cheer. But when this group of minstrels approached Terri's door, the place went crazy. The nurses—fearful of defying Michael's wishes and concerned about losing their jobs—raced out of the woodwork to make sure no carolers went into Terri's room.

After some debate, a compromise was reached and the carolers were permitted to sing several songs outside Terri's door—and out of her view. Still, Bob reported that Terri was radiant. She obviously enjoyed every minute of that Christmas serenade. Christmas had always been her favorite time of the year. As it turns out, this was to be Terri's last taste of Christmas this side of eternity.

Here's what really bothers me.

The woman I saw was desperately trying to talk. She gave and received love. She exhibited joy and sadness. Like standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon, my life would be forever changed by what I saw. I can understand why people who never met Terri are confused. I wouldn't have believed all this myself if I hadn't seen Terri with my own eyes and personally interacted with her.

However, one judge—who never once saw Terri, who never once laid eyes on her, who never even once had her come to court—made the decision that Terri Schiavo's life didn't matter. Without the benefit of a jury, Judge Greer determined from the bench that Terri was in PVS and didn't have a "quality of life" worth living.

Make no mistake: Terri Schiavo was not terminally ill or near death. This case was not an end-of-life decision.

This was a decision to end a life.

* * *

As I came to know Bob and Mary Schindler and their lovely daughter Terri, little did I know that my experiences working with them would irrevocably change my life forever.

In the following pages, I will take you on my personal journey working with this remarkable family. I begin one year earlier, in October 2003, the first time my father and I met the Schindlers and heard their amazing story.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Excerpted from:
Fighting for Dear Life by David Gibbs
Copyright © 2006; ISBN 076420243X
Published by Bethany House Publishers

[ocelot]

"America has sent men and women overseas to fight the atrocities and human abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq. For decades we have had a rich history of opposing brutal dictators—Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic, Adolf Hitler, among others—for torturing and gassing to death their own people. Yet here at home on our soil, with the full blessing of our courts and under the alleged authority of American law, we were engaged in an equally barbaric act."

This is something that makes me terribly mad. As much as she should have been kept alive or not, to compare the dehydration of a person is terrible. My mother is a nurse and was horrified at how the media was talking about people dying this way. It's one of the least painful ways to die and people are calling it torture. It almost made me stop reading it right there. I even know that my grandfather asked to die this way if he ever got to a point that his cancer returned or if he had a stroke that affected him mentally. It saddens me that people are so disillusioned about certain things (and this is a book that is supposed to clear up a bunch of facts).

"Cranford told David's relatives, "Sergeant Mack will never regain cognitive, sapient functioning. He will never be aware of his condition nor resume any degree of meaningful voluntary conscious interaction with his family or friends." Relying upon Dr. Cranford's prognosis, Mack's relatives made a life-and-death decision: They pulled the plug on his ventilator.

Guess what? Sergeant Mack didn't die. He continued to breathe and live on his own. Why? Dr. Cranford's unequivocal diagnosis of PVS was totally wrong. In fact, David Mack astonished his family by regaining his consciousness and communication skills."

I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. I believe that you can't kill someone if God doesn't want it to happen. He will strike a person dead if he wants them to die and he will create a miracle to show how powerful if he wants them to live. This is partly why I wasn't against the death of Terri, if God wanted her alive she would still be alive. Nothing happens without him allowing it to happen. PVS is a sticky situation and should be treated as such. I believe every person should have a living will for situations as this and this is part of what I think God wants us to learn from this.

I also think Michael Schiavo shouldn't be treated as a criminal through all of this (as I often see writers treat him). He's forgiven under the grace of God, the same grace that saves us. At the end of his prayers for forgivenness and our prayers for forgivenness, we are the same: washed clean by the blood of Jesus.

I also know that when some people are in pain they can act in very weird ways and often aren't themselves through it all. None of us know what Michael Schiavo was thinking and what he was feeling.

I'm through judging the situation of if she should have been allowed to live or not, because I don't know the facts and I don't know who to believe. It's one side against another and I can't tell you who is telling the truth or if neither is telling the whole truth (which I suspect).

"I can understand why people who never met Terri are confused. I wouldn't have believed all this myself if I hadn't seen Terri with my own eyes and personally interacted with her."

This is exactly why I'm not going to get into this case except for my beliefs of certain things connected to it. I'm confused and because how he has represented some of the things I don't trust him to be telling the whole truth either.

[achebeautiful]

Leona, I am very interested in some things that you state in recent posts, and hope that you can help me understand better what you mean.

For instance, you say in one post:

I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. I believe that you can't kill someone if God doesn't want it to happen. He will strike a person dead if he wants them to die and he will create a miracle to show how powerful if he wants them to live. This is partly why I wasn't against the death of Terri, if God wanted her alive she would still be alive. Nothing happens without him allowing it to happen.

But then in another post you ask the question (concerning the situation in Darfur):

We should not forget. The media leaves a story such as this because there's nothing new, but that's what's wrong! These people need change! They need to get their homes back and feel safe in their own country! Why aren't we doing anything?

Help me to understand why we should not forget. What difference does it make? You ask why we aren't doing anything, but again, why would it matter?

If everything happens for a reason, and God wants that person to die or live, why should I even begin to interfere with works of good deeds or charity? Or do we have a responsibility in all of this? Are we puppets on God's string? Or do we have an ability to choose for or against God's will for our lives?

Nothing happens without God allowing it to happen as you say, but does that mean that God wanted these people in Darfur to be violated, raped and murdered? Same question for Terri Schiavo?

I agree with you about extremist statements made by this author and so many when he says:

America has sent men and women overseas to fight the atrocities and human abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq. For decades we have had a rich history of opposing brutal dictators—Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic, Adolf Hitler, among others—for torturing and gassing to death their own people. Yet here at home on our soil, with the full blessing of our courts and under the alleged authority of American law, we were engaged in an equally barbaric act.


Truth be told, we were very reluctant as a nation to deal with any of those problems until they became a threat to us personally. And while I believe the end result is that the world is better for it, I cannot subscribe to the notion that we took any of these brutes out for humane or pro-life reasons except that of our own. If those in Darfur were to threaten the USA, you can bet your last dollar that we will be VERY concerned with the goings on over there!

But I am interested in your comments Leona, and thank you very much for helping me understand your views about all of this.

[ocelot]

Help me to understand why we should not forget. What difference does it make? You ask why we aren't doing anything, but again, why would it matter?

We should not forget about situations just because they aren't new anymore. Just because the place isn't on the news doesn't mean these things still aren't happening. We need to continue to put pressure on our governments to do something about this situation. It would matter because God often waits for us to go to HIm and ask and for us to be ready to fight. I don't ever remember Him just handing victory over. We need to see that he loves them too and he's probably crying in heaven over their pain, asking us why aren't we even caring about this. We should not forget because love still feels compassion and they are still hurting.

If everything happens for a reason, and God wants that person to die or live, why should I even begin to interfere with works of good deeds or charity? Or do we have a responsibility in all of this? Are we puppets on God's string? Or do we have an ability to choose for or against God's will for our lives?

I believe we have the responsibiity to humanity and when human rights are being violated, we need to stand up. What's happening in Darfur is still happening and the people there are still suffering. We are not puppets on a string but we still need to stand up for what we believe in without sacrificing the love that we should be showing. We do have an ability to choose for or against God's will for our lives but sometimes He doesn't let us escape the will He has for our lives (Jonah). I believe everything we do should centre on the love God gave us. If there are actions against the human race and that love makes us feel compassion we should take action towards defeating those who are taking action against the human race.

Nothing happens without God allowing it to happen as you say, but does that mean that God wanted these people in Darfur to be violated, raped and murdered? Same question for Terri Schiavo?

No, God doesn't want anybody to be violated. raped and murdered but sometimes God lets these things happen. As for Terri Schiavo I honestly don't know, who knows if he wanted her in heaven to be with Him, He might have taken her home anyway. There are somethings you know that God wants (feels about because of HIs nature) and there are somethings you don't know. That's the difference for me here.

[achebeautiful]

You have certainly cleared up my questions with your answers Leona, and I appreciate the time that you took to help me out with this. I cannot say that I agree with you about everything that you have stated, but it is good to have a better understanding of your point of view.

I really think, as frustrating as it might be for you to do, that the book might in some ways be very interesting to you. You seem to leave the door open to possibilities with your acknowledgement that you don't know all the answers about this situation. I don't either.

What interests me about the book is not so much the Terri Schiavo case, but rather what the Terri Schiavo case means for all of us.

I'm very concerned about 'values-based ethics'. In other words, the idea that only the strong and able, only those able to make a contribution to the greater society as a whole, are truly worth keeping alive. Abortion (the young) and Euthenasia (the old) are becoming more popular throughout the world.

Some schools teach classes where questions are asked such as three people on a boat that is sinking and only one can be saved. Which person do you save? The old man, the mentally retarded child, or the paralyzed woman? My answer would have to be that we keep on keeping on until we can save all three or sacrifice our lives trying!

When the Holocaust was going on, the Jewish people were taken off the trains and ushered into a concentration camp. Upon arrival they had to get a physical examination. Those unfit from the transportation over were immediately exterminated. The 'fit' ones were kept alive to do the cleanup work at the concentration camp (cleaning up the dead bodies, that is.) The 'fit' ones survived an average of two to three weeks because the grueling work and poor conditions often took their lives. If it didn't, they were replaced by new and more healthy arrivals on incoming trainloads of more Jewish people.

All I know is, there was a family that was perfectly willing to love and care for that woman (Terri Schiavo) no matter how severe her situation might be. What her mother was able to see in her daughter, and the communication that they had with each other, may just be the miracle that God was trying to show a world that otherwise was more concerned about how much money it might cost to keep a person alive.

God may very well have wanted Terri Schiavo home with Him. If so, we need to be careful not to 'play God' and interfere with His will. But His will shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Energy can be used for useful resources, or destructive purposes. Science should help us to discover the wonder of His creation. The medical profession is a blessing given us by God to better our living experience and preserve our health. It is meant to save lives.

It just seems to me that in God's eyes life is a precious thing. Maybe He allowed the Terri Schiavo situation to happen to help us all to determine for ourselves what life is to us.