Again about the murder of Terri Schiavo.

[fpb]

This story was featured on CBS - one of the media organizations most committed to the lie that Terri Schiavo was "brain dead".
Woman Details Her 20-Year Coma
NEW YORK, Aug. 4, 2005


For 20 years, Sarah Scantlin was seemingly unaware of the world around her after she was hit by a drunk driver in an accident that sent her into a comatose state in September of 1984.

Then in February, she shocked her parents and doctors when she began to speak. In her first national television interview, after undergoing surgery on her long-unused limbs and speech therapy to unlock her long-dormant tongue, Scantlin speaks with The Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith in a two-part interview to be broadcast Thursday and Friday.

Smith also speaks with Sarah's parents, Jim and Betsy Scantlin, who never imagined they would talk to their daughter again.

In a February interview on The Early Show , Sarah’s father recounted the phone call he and his wife got, informing them of the unimaginable.

"It was amazing. I'm in the living room. Betsy was in the computer area, and the phone rings ... and suddenly, I'm aware that there's a profound, distinct difference. Rather than speaking about Sarah, it became very clear she [Sarah’s nurse] was speaking to Sarah. It was the most amazing feeling in the world," he said.

The 1984 accident occurred when Scantlin was crossing the street in her hometown of Hutchinson, Kan. She suffered a massive brain injury and could not breathe on her own. Smith speaks with New York neurologist Randolph Marshall, who says that people like Scantlin rarely awake from such an injury. "You only hear about these cases very rarely and they’re always a surprise when they actually come to light," he says.

Scantlin’s speech is still limited.

However, it seems that throughout her 20-year coma, she could see, hear, and understand what was going on around her. Shortly after she awoke, her father asked what she knew about events that had occurred years earlier.

"Sarah, what's 9/11?" her father asks. She responds, "Bad…fire…airplanes…building…hurt people."

Smith says there are other things deep in Scantlin’s brain that also survived the accident, such things as her favorite 1980s song "Summer Lovin’," which she even sings for The Early Show.

Comments

[lyssiae.livejournal.com]

WOW. Just...wow!

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Notice that the physical and neurological damage she suffered was worse than Terri Schiavo's.

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

A bit earlier there was another person waking up from a long coma. 27 years, I guess. I'd be curious to see PET scans results comparisons.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

It happens all the time. It just is rarely recorded, because there is no advantage to the powers that be in demolishing the notion of "brain death".

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've heard about few cases lately. I don't know if any of them were in the same state as poor Mrs. Schiavo.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

This woman was worse off. For one thing, she could not breathe unaided, which Terri Schindler could. Terri was murdered for political reasons - namely, to make Governor and President Bush(es) look bad. End of story.

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

I'd have to see the PET scans to judge (as little as I would understand from them). Breathing alone is not a proof - one can be fully conscious and mind-operating and unable to breathe (paralysis of sceletal muscles). The question is which parts suffered what damage.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

In this case, eminent doctors disagree, because of the enormous political pressures on both sides. But I know what I think. It is no coincidence that Ralph Nader, Jesse Jackson, and every major disabled organization in the US intervened in Terri Schiavo's favour.

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

Ralph Nader was involved in this? My Ralph, who was never afraid to say the emperor had no clothes? Who I counted on to scream "QUACK!" when anyone practiced medicine without a license, or without spending any time with a patient even if they had one? I'm floored. I used to think he had integrity. Now he's become Politician!Nader. I want to cry.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Or perhaps it might tell you to what an extent the kill-Terri party was telling a pack of lies. Haven't you grasped yet that this was murder?

Terry Schiavo

[super-pan.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for friending me! You're my first friend. I would friend you too, but I don't know how. Anyway, I checked out your journal, and wanted to respond to this. Terry Schiavo represented a life or death issue which is so emotionally laden that it can never, ever truly be resolved. It is an issue relatively new to humans because of our technology. Most people in her situation would have died in eras before our advanced medical technology, which is both a blessing and a curse. Anyway, I just think that it's necessary to realize how important this issue is to people, whatever side of the fence they're on. Also, everyone should get a living will. My mom just had a heart attack and was in a coma. She had a living will that said she did not want that sort of life support. So we took her off. But because of her living will, the decision was made by her, and not my father (who had to give the word). Her brain damage was caused by lack of oxygen to her brain (due to the fact that she had in fact died, but had been revived later). Apparently comas due to oxygen deprivation are different from comas due to head trauma. Head trauma coma victims are more likely to recover. Anyway, sorry for the novel length post, but Terry Schiavo was very much on our minds during this time, especially since we were in Florida. Oh, and also important to remember: most politicians on either side are crumbums, and are just trying to make the other side look bad.

Re: Terry Schiavo

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I did not realize that the issue was so close to you. It is close to me for not wholly dissimilar reasons. My view, however, is simply this: that the weaker and the more helpless the life depending on us is, the harder we should work to protect it. It is true of babies and by God it should be true of the old and the sick.

You seem to have been sold the usual pup about Terri Schiavo. There was no need of any complex medical or technological procedures to keep her alive: all that was required was those two ancient medicines known as "food" and "drink". That was what was denied to her. That was how she died - of the same horrible death which the media who murdered her for political advantage now blare at us from Niger several times a day in order to get our money. From hunger and thirst. That was how she was murdered, so that a political party might score a point.

Re: Terry Schiavo

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, I made no specific comment on my opinions about Schiavo. My post was perhaps overly long and not very concise, as the three points I was really trying to make was: 1. The decision to take someone off life support is always emotional and difficult. 2. Therefore, a person should have a living will stating how that person would like such an event handled so that their loved ones can do so, and finally, 3. politicians of either opinion used Schiavo to further their own agenda.
If I seem offended it is because I am unsure if you are likening Terry Schiavo to the personal case of my mother, if in fact, you believe that I and my family murdered her by denying her food and water.
Whether Terry Schiavo should have been take off food and water will always be up for debate, because there was no proof of her wishes, only her husband's word, which was suspect. In my mother's case, it was not up for debate, because she had made it clear what she wanted, in writing, through an attorney. Do you feel that it is always wrong to stop life support, if there is no prognosis for recovery (as was our case), and there was a living will stating a desire not to receive life support? It is your view on this point that I am unclear. I truly hope that I am not angering or offending you, and I'm also sorry to prolong this particular conversation with you, because I suspect it has become unpleasant, but as my feelings are still raw (mom died about three weeks ago) I took your last comments personally. That is all.

Re: Terry Schiavo

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I have stepped into a personal, recent and painful situation without really wanting to. I love my own mother more than anyone in the world (except two other people) and I have some slight idea how painful this may have been for you.

Having said that, you asked me a question, and I have to answer. I am a Catholic. I do not think anyone has a right to suicide. You did not make yourself and you cannot unmake yourself - or give others orders to do so. And to order not to be given food or drink is to me quite simply evidence that the person in question, will or not, did not understand what she was getting into. An order not to receive useless medical care is one thing. The Church teaches that it is forbidden to bring about someone's death to relieve pain, but that on the other hand pain-relieving measures may be given even if it is expected that they may shorten life expectancy; and that there is no obligation to artificially lengthen life where the final issue is not in doubt. The point is the Fifth Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Kill. That includes oneself. And that means that an order to withdraw food and drink is equivalent to suicide and must not be accepted. An accomplice to suicide is an accomplice to murder.

I have no desire to interfere with someone else's bitter grief. My impulse in these situation is to just embrace whoever it is that is suffering, and offer my shoulder to cry on. But having to answer your question, I would say this: that if my mother left a will where she demanded that no superfluous medical cure be wasted on her in case of irreversible illness, it would break my heart, but I would obey; but if she left an order not to be given food or drink, I would absolutely refuse.

A few years ago, my grandfather died. He was 96 and had been ill for a long time. The combined efforts of his wife - herself in her late eighties - and his daughters kept him alive for months. Why did they do so? Because they loved him and they felt it was their duty to him. I will always cherish the memory of when he asked me (I have rather a good voice) to sing for him, and managed to make it understood, afterwards, that I was "the greatest".

Re: Terry Schiavo

[super-pan.livejournal.com]

I see your point of view, and I respect it. In the case of my mother, I disagree. It was neither suicide, nor murder that killed her, but a heart attack. Her heart had stopped; she was revived by defibrilators ( no idea how to spell this). Her heart stopped again, and was again restarted by defibrilators. The doctors told us there was no hope of recovery. You said "and that there is no obligation to artificially lengthen life where the final issue is not in doubt. " To have needles and tubes to supply food, water, and oxygen to a body that can not sustain itself(and is braindead) is an artificial extension of life. I appreciate you explaining your position, and I will say no more on this subject. I hope to talk to you about Harry Potter in the future.

[gunderpants.livejournal.com]

Google the name 'Maria Korp'. It's a recent case in Australia. I can guarantee you that nothing will make you angrier in the entire world. Imagine a room full of rabid pro-choicers, union busters and militant atheists: that won't make you as angry as this case. Shit, this case even had me screaming at the TV.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I think I get the message, so I won't. I don't actually enjoy getting angry or complaining about open murder. But when I see it, I cannot be silent, either.