Surprised lawyer finds Terri Schiavo alert
1st visit contradicts claims of 'persistent vegetative state'
Posted: January 5, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Despite the widely believed claims of her husband, Terri Schiavo is
purposefully interactive, curious and expressive with her parents, according to
a surprised lawyer who visited for the first time the brain-damaged Florida
woman embroiled in a euthanasia dispute.
Terri responding to her mother in video clip available on terrisfight.org
After a 45-minute visit Christmas Eve, attorney Barbara Weller concluded
Schiavo was so alert that she "should have been gathered around the Christmas
dinner table enjoying the holiday with her family."
Weller, along with attorney David Gibbs, took over the lead counsel role in
September for Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, who are in a
protracted legal battle with her husband, Michael Schiavo, to keep their
daughter alive.
Gibbs also was present during the Dec. 24 visit.
Not knowing what to expect, Weller said in a narrative posted on the family
website she "prepared for the possibility that the Schindlers love their
daughter and sister so much that they might imagine behaviors by Terri that
aren't actually evident to others."
But she was "very surprised" to find that, "From the moment we entered the
room, my impression was that Terri was very purposeful and interactive and she
seemed very curious about the presence of obvious strangers in her room."
Noting that Terri was not in bed but dressed and groomed and sitting in a chair
without any tubes attached, Weller wrote:
The thing that surprised me the most about Terri as I took my turn to greet her
by the side of her chair was how beautiful she is. I would have expected to see
someone with a sallow and gray complexion and a sick looking countenance.
Instead, I saw a very pretty woman with a peaches and cream complexion and a
lovely smile, which she even politely extended to me as I introduced myself to
her. I was amazed that someone who had not been outside for so many years and
who received such minimal health care could look so beautiful. She appeared to
have an inner light radiating from her face. I was truly taken aback by her
beauty, particularly under the adverse circumstances in which she has found
herself for so many years.
As WorldNetDaily has reported, Terri collapsed in 1990 in the couple's St.
Petersburg apartment. For reasons never satisfactorily explained, oxygen to her
brain was cut off for several minutes, leaving her unable to talk and dependent
on a feeding tube for food and hydration at the age of 26.
In a 2000 trial, Michael Schiavo persuaded Florida probate Judge George Greer
that Terri is in a "persistent vegetative state," which in the absence of a
written directive, allowed Michael Schiavo to request removal of her feeding
tube.
In November, however, Greer ruled the tube cannot be removed until the
Schindlers have exhausted all avenues in their quest for a new trial to
determine whether or not their daughter would want to be starved to death.
Michael Schiavo insists he simply is carrying out his wife's wishes, but
Terri's parents contend Terri is alert, has a strong will to live and could be
significantly rehabilitated with aggressive therapy. More than a dozen
physicians, therapists and speech pathologists have stepped forward to state
agreement with the Schindlers.
The parents also assert Michael Schiavo's interests are conflicted since he has
lived with another woman for at least nine years with whom he has had two
children.
Weller said that during the visit Dec. 24, "Terri's parents, sister and niece
went immediately to greet Terri when we entered the room and stood in turn
directly beside her head, stroking her face, kissing her and talking quietly
with her.
"When she heard their voices, and particularly her mother's voice, Terri
instantly turned her head towards them and smiled," Weller continued. "Terri
established eye contact with her family, particularly with her mother, who
spent the most time with her during our visit."
Weller said the "whole experience was rather moving."
"Terri definitely has a personality," she said. "Her whole demeanor definitely
changes when her mother speaks with her. She lights up and appears to be
delighted at the interaction. She has an entirely different reaction to her
father who jokes with her and has several standing jokes that he uses when he
enters and exits her presence."
Weller said she "never imagined Terri would be so active, curious, and
purposeful."
"She watched people intently, obviously was attempting to communicate with each
one in various ways and with various facial expressions and sounds," she said.
"She was definitely not in a coma, not even close. This visit certainly shed
more light for me on why the Schindlers are fighting so hard to protect her, to
get her medical care and rehabilitative assistance, and to spend all they have
to protect her life."
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