In this situation, I think he did exactly what Kalhoun said. In the sense that this case dragged on for 12 years, it’s very unusual. But in other ways, it’s not. A lot of people make a decision similar to the one Michael Schiavo made, which is that the person he loved was not coming back, and the right thing to do was let the rest of her die. People make that choice every day with parents, siblings, and spouses. I don’t envy them, but it’s not rare in the grand scheme.
This story was unique because of the falling-out between the Schindlers and Michael after the malpractice money was awarded. Yes, at their urging, he started seeing other people. In most cases, this wouldn’t have been unusual, because Terri wouldn’t have lived this long. But she did, and it wasn’t until money entered the picture that Michael’s relationships with other women became intolerable for the Schindlers.
I think you miss the whole point of marriage. Marriage is something you do just once in your life. You make a committment to love, and honor. There will be tough times, but you don’t cut and run, you stick it out, rolling with the good and the bad. You build a relationship of deep respect for each other, if your spouse should die you wait at least a year before considering another relationship. Marriage is a sacred bond, a soulmate to soulmate. I have been married for 48 years to the same woman, and wouldn’t change anything. You learn together, side by side, until you die, that’s marriage.
You and other posters make it sound like a one-nighter. No honor, no respect, no thought at all. You have an awful lot to learn about life.
So taking care of her for years and then fighting on her behalf in court for most of a decade is “cutting and running?” I think “cutting and running” might have involved just getting a divorce instead of sticking around (which in my world is the opposite of “cutting and running”) for 15 years.
Cite for him not waiting a year after her collapse?
Thank goodness you think you have so much to teach us.
Since neither of us can confirm or deny Mr. Shiavo treated the nurses poorly then you may side with the Judges opinion (which he himself cannot confirm or deny).
I think someone who intimidates ex-girlfriends and dispatches family pets for personal convenience is quite capable of treating nurses poorly. I say this from the standpoint that Terry was probably brain dead (due to his admitted inaction’s).
Terri Schiavo died 15 years ago. By “died”, I mean her soul departed her body. Last time we had a thread about her, you implied that I am against religion. This time, you’re implying I don’t hold marriage sacred. Lekatt, those implications are as insulting as they are ludicrous and completely unbased in anything resembling reality. How dare you speak of love and insult those who disagree with you on legitimate grounds?
Michael Schiavo fought to see his wife’s wishes as expressed to him and their friends carried out. He did so even when it would have been easier (and probably a lot cheaper) to cut and run and let her parents do what they wanted with her body, even if that meant cutting it to pieces one limb at a time so they could avoid the tragedy that was reality. I said it in my first post in this thread; I’ll say it again. I have never had the privilege of being married and I do consider it a privilege as well as the most sacred bond two people can have between each other. I pray to God that, if I am fortunate enough to marry, I shall have as good and loyal a husband as Michael Schiavo was and, if anything like what happened to Terri Schiavo should happen to me, I pray my parents’ usual good sense will overcome their grief and they will have the grace and courage to let me go. This body I happen to be wearing, bum knee and all, is as meaningless as the dressing gown I’m wearing over it. When my soul is gone, as Ms. Schiavo’s was gone 15 years ago, I hope those I love will give me the mourning they feel appropriate and then move on with their lives and think of me with joy. To preserve a soul-less husk for 15 years because of one’s inability to face grief and reality is an inhuman, no, make that “all too human” travesty. Nevertheless, it is a travesty, and I do blame the Schindlers for it.
Magiver, I asked you once; I’ll ask you again. Give me a cite for Michael Schiavo’s having euthanized her pets. I’d also like a cite for the ex-girlfriends. Finally, what do you think of the Schindlers’ behaviour?
Well, this wife has actually spoken those lines (or a reasonable facsimile there of). And although I’m obviously not in a PVS, I consider what I suffer, and by extension have made my husband go through, pretty damn serious. That said, I’ve wanted him, in the past decade, to get on with his life and BE HAPPY. Not just stand by me, although he has (unwaveringly and pretty much without complaint), due to nothing more than legalities, but to instead forge ahead and live what he’s got left.
Because see, what he ended up with is NOT what he married. Regardless though, he’s shown me more love by his attitudes no matter what his actions might have ever been (IE: like Shiavo, fighting tooth and nail for Terry to have what she desired versus her parents or society or what would have been easiest for HIM) and that is what has been and would be important to me.
I’d be ecstatic if he’d found someone else. Then or now. However, he sticks by me in a way that he feels is right. Not by a document or a law. And by far, for the four gazillionth time, he’s a saint in my eyes. Always has been and always will be. I think Michael is cut of a similar cloth and I’m thankful that he’s finally able to have something now that he’s fulfilled his promises to his wife.
Like children and a partner. I could never sully his reputation by calling that “shacking up” or any other derogatory observation. My Og, the man went through hell for NO OTHER REASON than because he loved her. Gah, I just don’t understand.
(With that, I should probably step away from the thread because I’m undoubtedly not being very coherent or anything less than emotional. Unfortunately, I probably won’t though because it hits so freakin’ close to home and I would probably go ballistic on anyway painting my husband with that hideous, broad, not-thought-out brush. Sorry for the rawness all. :()
His first girlfriends name was Cindy Shook and she was not happy about making the affidavit. I can’t find the site I looked at but it read the same.
Not sure why you want my opinion on the Schindler’s behavior because the debate involves the concept of Michael Shiavo as a hero. If you want my opinion on the Schindler’s behavior you’ll have to post specific items you are unhappy with. You don’t have to cite it, just a quick review of what you object to.
If I’m biased about Mr. Shiavo it’s because my perception of him started when he didn’t do CPR on his wife. Supposedly he was trained in it but I can’t find a source to verify it. Regardless of his skill, I would have expected the attempt. If Terri were my sister he would have to have a REAAALLY good explanation why he didn’t try. Honestly, if he couldn’t come up with one I would have pounded his ass until they pulled me off him. His actions are tantamount to calling the police to report his son wandering in traffic.
I’ve read that he trained and became a registered nurse after her accident. (Wikipedia backs that up; they also say he called 9-1-1 immediately. I don’t know what that does for their credibility, as I also don’t know how trustworthy the old “40-minute gap” is.)
Your repeated hypothetical threats aren’t lending a lot of weight to your argument.
By the way, had Terri actually stopped breathing when Michael discovered her or was she just unconscious? You don’t give CPR to people who are breathing.
I think that CPR thing is really a non-issue. He wasn’t yet a nurse at the time. He apparently testified that he had been trained in CPR but how long before the incident had he received that training? CPR is training is something that has to be renewed once a year. A lot of people have been trained in CPR at some point in their lives, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to remember what to do years later, especially if they’re in a state of panic and manual CPR is rarely successful in reviving a person whose heart has stopped anyway. Michael did what he was supposed to do. He called 911 and waited for EMTs with defillibrators. Carping on his alleged failure to perform a procedure which he may have had little or no memory of how to perform correctly (and which if performed incorrectly can actually cause more injury) is just capricious, mean spirited, fault finding.
I wasn’t referring to his new career (which I’m aware of) and he is on record as admitting that he didn’t do CPR. My hypothetical reaction was a statement of my bias. Maybe everything anyone has ever said about Mr. Shiavo (beyond his CPR skills) is pure BS. Maybe his cat’s are still wandering the house looking for Terri. Maybe his exgirl friend is a whackjob and all the nurses lied about him. I don’t know.
Throw him a parade, make him a hero. If I’m right the guilt will eat him up.
Here I am in another Schiavo thread. Why don’t I know better?
Here is the first sentence from your own link about the alleged girlfriend:
Well, gee, I’m convinced. Can you show me what the judge in the case thought of that? Can you demonstrate that anything in the “deposition” is true? Anything?
CPR is rarely successful in reviving a person whose heart has stopped? From what orifice did you pull that nugget of insight from? The purpose of CPR is to maintain blood flow to the brain until help arrives. The only way someone could screw it up would be to forget to check for a blocked air passage. Even if air isn’t introduced into the lungs the chest compressions will keep the oxygenated blood flowing for some time.
I think you’re confusing the debate over the decision to let Terri die with Michael Shiavo’s “heroics”.