|
Spirit Daily
__________________________________________
Last Visit Narrative by Attorney Barbara Weller
When Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed at 1:45 p.m. on March 18, 2005, I
was one of the most surprised people on the planet. I had been visiting Terri
throughout the morning with her family and her priest. As part of the legal
team working throughout the previous days and nights to save Terri from a
horrific fate, I was very hopeful. Although the state judicial system had
obviously failed Terri by not protecting her life, I knew other forces were
still at work. I fully expected the federal courts would step in to reverse
this injustice, just as they might for a prisoner unjustly set for
execution_although by much more humane means than Terri would be executed.
Barring that, I was certain that sometime around noon, the Florida Department of
Children and Family Services would come to the
Woodside Hospice facility in Pinellas Park and take Terri into protective
custody. Or that federal marshals would arrive from Washington D.C, where the
Congress was working furiously to try to save Terri, and would stand guard at
her door to prevent any medical personnel from entering her room to remove the
tube that was providing her nutrition and hydration.
Finally, I was sure if nothing else was working, that at 12:59,just before the
hour scheduled for Terri's gruesome execution to begin, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
would at least issue a 60-day reprieve for the legislative bodies to complete
the work they were attempting to do to save Terri's life and to make sure that
no other vulnerable adults could be sentenced to starve to death in America. I
had done the legal research weeks before and was fully convinced that Gov. Bush
had the power, under our co-equal branches of government, to issue a reprieve in
the face of a judicial death sentence intended to lead to the starvation and
dehydration of an innocent woman when scores of doctors and neurologists were
saying she could be helped.
All morning long, as I was in the room with Terri and her family, we were
telling her that help was on the way. Terri was in good spirits that morning.
The mood in her room was jovial, particularly around noontime, as we knew
Congressional attorneys were on the scene and many were working hard to save
Terri's life. For most of that time, I was visiting and talking with Terri
along with Terri's sister Suzanne Vitadamo, Suzanne's husband, and Terri's aunt,
who was visiting from New York to help provide support for the family. A female
Pinellas Park police office was stationed at the door outside Terri's room.
Terri was sitting up in her lounge chair, dressed and looking alert and well.
Her feeding tube had been plugged in around 11 a.m. and we all felt good that
she was still being fed. Suzanne and I were talking, joking, and laughing with
Terri, telling her she was going to go to Washington D.C. to testify before
Congress, which meant that finally Terri's husband Michael would be required to
fix her wheelchair. After that Suzanne could take Terri to the mall shopping
and could wheel her outdoors every day to feel the wind and sunshine on her
face, something she has not been able to do for more than five years.
At one point, I noticed Terri's window blinds were pulled down. I went to the
window to raise them so Terri could look at the beautiful garden outside her
window and see the sun after several days of rain. As sunlight came into the
room, Terri's eyes widened and she was obviously very pleased. At another
point, Suzanne and I told Terri she needed to suck in all the food she could
because she might not be getting anything for a few days. During that time,
Mary Schindler, Terri's mother, joined us for a bit, and we noticed there were
bubbles in Terri's feeding tube. We joked that we didn't want her to begin
burping, and called the nurses to fix the feeding tube, which they did. Terri's
mother did not come back into the room. This was a very difficult day for Bob
and Mary Schindler. I suspect they were less hopeful all along than I was,
having lived through Terri's last two feeding tube removals.
Suzanne and I continued to talk and joke with Terri for probably an hour or
more. At one point Suzanne called Terri the bionic woman and I heard Terri
laugh out loud heartily for the first time since I have been visiting with her.
She laughed so hard that for the first time I noticed the dimples in her cheeks.
The most dramatic event of this visit happened at one point when I was sitting
on Terri's bed next to Suzanne. Terri was sitting in her lounge chair and her
aunt was standing at the foot of the chair. I stood up and learned over Terri.
I took her arms in both of my hands. I said to her, Terri if you could only say
`I want to live' this whole thing could be over today. I begged her to try very
hard to say, I want to live. To my enormous shock and surprise, Terri's eyes
opened wide, she looked me square in the face, and with a look of great
concentration, she said, Ahhhhhhh.
Then, seeming to summon up all the strength she had, she virtually screamed,
Waaaaaaaa. She yelled so loudly that Michael Vitadamo, Suzanne's husband, and
the female police officer who were then standing together outside
Terri's door, clearly heard her. At that point, Terri had a look of anguish on
her face that I had never seen before and she seemed to be struggling hard, but
was unable to complete the sentence. She became very frustrated and began to
cry. I was horrified that I was obviously causing Terri so much anguish.
Suzanne and I began to stroke Terri's face and hair to comfort her. I told
Terri I was very sorry. It had not been my intention to upset her so much.
Suzanne and I assured Terri that her efforts were much appreciated and that she
did not need to try to say anything more. I
promised Terri I would tell the world that she had tried to say, I want to live.
Suzanne and I continued to visit and talk with Terri, along with other family
members who came and went in the room, until about 2:00 p.m. when we were all
told to leave after Judge Greer denied yet another motion for stay
and ordered the removal of the feeding tube to proceed. As we left the room,
the female police officer outside the door was valiantly attempting to keep from
crying.
Just as Terri's husband Michael has told the world he must keep an alleged
promise to kill Terri, a promise remembered a million dollars and nearly a
decade after the fact; I must keep my promise to Terri immediately. Time is
running out for her. I went out to the banks of cameras outside the hospice
facility and told the story immediately. Now I must also tell the story in
writing for the world to hear. It may be the last effective thing I can do to
try to keep Terri alive so she can get the testing, therapy, and rehabilitative
help she so desperately needs before it is too late.
About four in the afternoon, several hours after the feeding tube was removed, I
returned to Terri's room. By that time she was alone except for a male police
officer now standing inside the door. When I entered the room and began to
speak to her, Terri started to cry and tried to speak to me immediately. It was
one of the most helpless feelings I have ever had. Terri was looking very
melancholy at that point and I had the sense she was very upset that we had told
her things were going to get better, but instead, they were obviously getting
worse. I had previously had the same feeling when my own daughter was a baby
who was hospitalized and was crying and looking to me to rescue her from her
hospital crib, something I could not do. While I was in the room with Terri for
the next half hour or so, several other friends came to visit and I did a few
press interviews sitting right next to Terri. I again raised her window shade,
which had again been pulled down, so Terri could at least see the garden and the
sunshine from her lounge chair. I also turned the radio on in her room before I
left so that when she was alone, she would at least have some music for comfort.
Just before I left the room, I leaned over Terri and spoke right into her ear.
I told her I was very sorry I had not been able to stop the feeding tube from
being taken out and I was very sorry I had to leave her alone. But I reminded
her that Jesus would stay right by her side even when no one else was there with
her. When I mentioned Jesus' Name, Terri again laughed out loud. She became
very agitated and began loudly trying to speak to me again. As Terri continued
to laugh and try to speak, I quietly prayed in her ear, kissed her, placed her
in Jesus' care, and left the room.
Terri is alone now. I'm sure she is beginning at least become thirsty, if not
hungry.
And I am left to wonder how many other people care.
03/20/05
You are at www.spiritdaily.org