CWA Calls on Michael Schiavo: Let Terri Live

To: National Desk

Contact: Rebecca S. Jones of Concerned Women for America,
202-488-7000 ext. 126

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Concerned Women for
America (CWA) joins with Terri Schindler-Schiavo's family today to
urge Terri's husband Michael Schiavo to let Terri live rather than
ordering her feeding tube removed, as he has vowed to do on February
22.

Recent news that Sarah Scantlin, the Kansas woman who regained her
speech after she was left severely brain-damaged when hit by a drunk
driver 20 years ago, is evidence that Terri Schiavo's life must be
preserved.
"Scantlin's doctors have been unable to explain the woman's sudden
breakthrough after two decades of silence, proving that this kind of
recovery has not been sufficiently researched," said Wendy Wright,
CWA's senior policy director. "Who is to say that Terri, who has
been in her disabled condition for 15 years, cannot have a similar
experience? If Michael Schiavo were truly motivated by what is best
for his wife, he would be finding hope in the Scantlin story and
calling for further investigation into his wife's possible recovery.

"Instead, Michael has spent a large legal settlement, which he won
by claiming that he would care for Terri, by fighting for the right
to starve her to death," said Wright. "These funds should have been
used for rehabilitative services, like speech therapy. Now, apart
from legal intervention, Michael will likely order his wife's
feeding tube removed, causing her to die a horrifying death of
dehydration and starvation.

"Even those who are dependent on others for basic physical needs
such as food and water, like Terri, deserve to live. We appeal to
Michael to have mercy and grant his wife these basic needs."

Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy
women's organization.

http://www.earnedmedia.org/cwfa0218.htm




After 20 years of Silence, Brain-damaged Woman Begins Talking

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — For 20 years, Sarah Scantlin has been mostly
oblivious to the world around her — the victim of a drunken driver
who struck her down as she walked to her car. Today, after a
remarkable recovery, she can talk again.

Sarah Scantlin, left with her her mother Betsy Scantlin, has
regained speech and memories after a 20-year absence.
By Larry W. Smith, AP

Scantlin's father knows she will never fully recover, but her
newfound ability to speak and her returning memories have given him
his daughter back. For years, she could only blink her eyes — one
blink for "no," two blinks for "yes" — to respond to questions that
no one knew for sure she understood.

"I am astonished how primal communication is. It is a key element of
humanity," Jim Scantlin said, blinking back tears.

Sarah Scantlin was an 18-year-old college freshman on Sept. 22,
1984, when she was hit by a drunk driver as she walked to her car
after celebrating with friends at a teen club. That week, she had
been hired at an upscale clothing store and won a spot on the drill
team at Hutchinson Community College.

After two decades of silence, she began talking last month. Doctors
are not sure why. On Saturday, Scantlin's parents hosted an open
house at her nursing home to introduce her to friends, family
members and reporters.

A week ago, her parents got a call from Jennifer Trammell, a
licensed nurse at the Golden Plains Health Care Center. She asked
Betsy Scantlin if she was sitting down, told her someone wanted to
talk to her and switched the phone to speaker mode:

"Hi, Mom."

"Sarah, is that you?" her mother asked.

"Yes," came the throaty reply.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine."

"Do you need anything," her mother asked her later.

"More makeup."

"Did she just say more makeup?" the mother asked the nurse.

Scantlin still suffers constantly from the effects of the accident.
She habitually crosses her arms across her chest, her fists clenched
under her chin. Her legs constantly spasm and thrash. Her right foot
is so twisted it is almost reversed. Her neck muscles are so
constricted she cannot swallow to eat.

The driver who struck Scantlin served six months in jail for driving
under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.

Scantlin started talking in mid-January but asked staff members not
to tell her parents until Valentine's Day to surprise them, Trammell
said. But last week she could not wait any longer to talk to them.

"I didn't think it would ever happen, it had been so long," Betsy
Scantlin said.

Scantlin's doctor, Bradley Scheel, said physicians are not sure why
she suddenly began talking but believe critical pathways in the
brain may have regenerated.

"It is extremely unusual to see something like this happen," Scheel
said.

The breakthrough came when the nursing home's activity director, Pat
Rincon, was working with Scantlin and a small group of other
patients, trying to get them to speak.

Rincon had her back to Scantlin while she worked with another
resident. She had just gotten that resident to reply "OK," when she
suddenly heard Sarah behind her also repeat the words: "OK. OK."

Staff members brought in a speech therapist and intensified their
work with Sarah. They did not want to get her parents' hopes up
until they were sure Sarah would not relapse, Trammell said.

On Saturday, Scantlin seemed at times overwhelmed by the attention.
Dressed in a blue warm-up suit, she spoke little, mostly answering
questions in a single word.

Is she happy she can talk? "Yeah," she replied.

What does she tell her parents when they leave? "I love you," she
said.

Family members say Scantlin's understanding of the outside world
comes mostly from news and soap operas that played on the television
in her room.

On Saturday, her brother asked whether she knew what a CD was. Sarah
said she did, and she knew it had music on it.

But when he asked her how old she was, Sarah guessed she was 22.
When her brother gently told her she was 38 years old now, she just
stared silently back at him. The nurses say she thinks it is still
the 1980s.

Her father, Jim Scantlin, understands that Sarah will probably never
leave the health care center, but he is grateful for her improvement.

"This place is her home ... They have given me my daughter back," he
said.



Find this article at:
http://usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-02-12-brain-damaged-woman_x.htm?
csp=34


Or here:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050213/D887B94G0.html



After 20 years, injured woman talks again
Father: 'She's 100 percent Sarah again'
Friday, February 11, 2005 Posted: 1:44 PM EST (1844 GMT)



Sarah Scantlin was 18 when she was struck by a car.

VIDEO
Years after drunken driver silenced her, woman speaks again.

PLAY VIDEO

HUTCHINSON, Kansas (AP) -- A woman unable to talk since she was hit
by a drunken driver 20 years ago has begun to regain her memory and
form words, sending her father "from despair to joy."

Sarah Scantlin's family and friends plan to celebrate the
development on Saturday at the health care center where she lives.

"She's 100 percent Sarah again. The family is back together, and
it's just simply a joyous situation," her father, Jim Scantlin, told
CNN.

Scantlin was 18 when she was struck while walking to her car in
1984. She had been aware of her surroundings but unable to make any
sounds other than loud crying until a month ago, when she told staff
members, "OK, OK."

"It just happened one day and nobody really knows why," said Sharon
Kuepker, administrator for the Golden Plains Health Care Center.

She is now forming other words, counting and remembering people and
places, staff members said.

"You condition yourself to be able to try to deal with something
like this, and then all of the sudden, the world instantly changed
from despair to joy because it's amazing how important communication
is between human beings," her father said.

The driver who struck Scantlin, Douglas Doman II, served six months
in jail after being convicted of driving under the influence and
leaving the scene of an injury accident.

http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2005/US/02/11/recovering.woman.ap/

Click on above link or copy and paste link into address bar to
access video on website. You must be a premium member to view video.



Woman Speaks Again After 20 Years

"Rather than speaking about Sarah, it became very clear she was
speaking to Sarah. It was the most amazing feeling in the world."
Jim Scantlin, on being told Sarah was speaking again.


HUTCHINSON, Kan., Feb. 12, 2005

(CBS/AP) For 20 years, Sarah Scantlin has been mostly oblivious to
the world around her — the victim of a drunken driver who struck her
down as she walked to her car.

Now, after a remarkable recovery, she can talk again and has begun
to regain her memory, sending her father "from despair to joy."

Sarah Scantlin's family and friends celebrated the development on
Saturday at the health care center where she lives.

"She's 100 percent Sarah again. The family is back together, and
it's just simply a joyous situation," her father, Jim Scantlin, said
in a broadcast interview.

Scantlin's father says he knows she will never fully recover, but
her newfound ability to speak and her returning memories have given
him his daughter back.

For years, she could only blink her eyes — one blink for "no," two
blinks for "yes" — to respond to questions that no one knew for sure
she understood.

"I am astonished how primal communication is. It is a key element of
humanity," Scantlin said, blinking back tears.

She still suffers constantly from the effects of the accident. She
habitually crosses her arms across her chest, her fists clenched
under her chin.

Her legs constantly spasm and thrash. Her right foot is so twisted
it is almost reversed. Her neck muscles are so constricted she
cannot swallow to eat.

Scantlin was 18 when she was struck while walking to her car in
1984. She had been aware of her surroundings but unable to make any
sounds other than loud crying until a month ago, when she told staff
members, "OK, OK."

"It just happened one day and nobody really knows why," said Sharon
Kuepker, administrator for the Golden Plains Health Care Center.

She is now forming other words, counting and remembering people and
places, staff members said.

"You condition yourself to be able to try to deal with something
like this, and then all of the sudden, the world instantly changed
from despair to joy because it's amazing how important communication
is between human beings," her father said.

The driver who struck Scantlin, Douglas Doman II, served six months
in jail after being convicted of driving under the influence and
leaving the scene of an injury accident.

Sarah's father told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith in a
separate interview that his daughter had been "basically
unresponsive, in the regular sense of the word 'alert.' She was able
to do eye contact and was very aware of her surroundings, but
otherwise, physically, she was completely incapable of doing
anything."

Sarah's mother, Betsy Scantlin, says Sarah actually started to make
some noises a couple of years ago. "We didn't have any idea what
that meant," she said to Smith. "We just knew it was a noise that
she hadn't made for 18 years, and the people -- it's kind of like
having a baby. You kind of learn to know the sounds, and they could
kind of tell whether she wanted her TV changed or she was hurting or
something, but otherwise, nothing."

Jim recounted the phone call he and Betsy 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 I'm immediately aware
that it's the nursing home…where (Sarah) resides.

"And suddenly, I'm aware that there's a profound, distinct
difference. Rather than speaking about Sarah, it became very clear
she was speaking to Sarah. It was the most amazing feeling in the
world."

Besty says she's "still stunned" to be hearing Sarah's voice
again. "There's just no words. Twenty years ago, I cried a lot. This
week, all I've done is laugh because, when I heard her say, 'Hi
Mom,' I said, 'Sarah, is that you?' And she said, 'Yeah.' And all I
can do is just say -- I've just laughed ever since, because it's
just so amazing."

What's more, Jim says Sarah is showing "uncanny recall. It's amazing
how -- considering how severe and profound her injury was, her
ability to recall -- it's astonishing."

Sarah's doctor, Bradley Scheel, adds that, "It's just been amazing.
We're all thrilled. And it seems, almost from day to day, she's able
to make more responses. We're really anxious to see how she does
from here."

Scheel said physicians are not sure why she suddenly began talking
but believe critical pathways in the brain may have regenerated.

"It is extremely unusual to see something like this happen," Scheel
said.

http://cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/11/earlyshow/main673281.shtml







Posted on Tue, Feb. 15, 2005


Drunken driver had suffered his own brain injury before accident

ROXANA HEGEMAN

Associated Press


HUTCHINSON, Kan. - Sarah Scantlin's first words, uttered 20 years
after a drunken driver struck her, have captivated a world hungry
for a miracle.

Scantlin was 18 when she was hit while walking to her car in 1984 in
Hutchinson. She had been aware of her surroundings, but unable to
make any sounds other than loud crying until a month ago, when she
suddenly told staff members, "OK, OK." Doctors don't know why she
regained her speech.

During all those years while their daughter struggled with a brain
injury, her parents' pushed to toughen the state's drunken driving
laws.

It became a lifelong mission that began with reaching out to the man
who put their daughter in the hospital. As part of his sentencing
for drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident, Douglas D.
Doman II was ordered by Judge Steven Becker - at the request of the
victim's family - to visit Sarah in the hospital.

Becker told The Associated Press the Scantlin family wanted some
acknowledgment from Doman that he had done wrong.

"My recollection is he went to the hospital to see Sarah. Her family
was there and it was a very positive experience for everyone
concerned," Becker said Monday.

Doman did not return a message left at his brother's house for
comment.

But Jim Scantlin remembered well the day that Doman and his mother
came to the final staffing meeting before her daughter was released
from a Wichita hospital to live out her life in a Hutchinson nursing
home.

"He was authentically remorseful, cried," Scantlin said. "The mother
sat there and acted like this was an insult."

Doman, then 22, asked the Scantlins if he could come see them; they
would eventually meet with him at the Scantlins' home several times.

"I've forgiven the boy," Scantlin said in a recent interview at the
nursing home.

Scantlin said he tried to do with Doman what he does with his own
children - emphasize responsibility.

"Being behind the wheel of a car in his condition is not being very
responsible," he said.

But Scantlin empathized with the young man who only months before
hitting Sarah had suffered a brain injury from a fall that had left
him blind in one eye and with shaky motor control.

"He should not have been behind the wheel of a car sober," he said.

The judge said Doman's brain injury made the drunken driving case
difficult.

"He also had brain damage from a previous accident and that factored
into what he was doing that night," Becker said. "It was a tragic,
tragic thing for everyone concerned."

Along with the order to visit Sarah, Doman was sentenced to six
months in jail for driving under the influence and leaving the scene
of an injury accident. He also was ordered to attend an alcohol
safety awareness program.

Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder said that at the time
Kansas did not have stringent drunken driving laws for cases in
which the victim was injured.

The state now has a reckless aggravated battery law to prosecute
drunken drivers, under which someone convicted of the felony charge
would face between 38 and 172 months in prison depending on prior
criminal history, said Schroeder, who once was a classmate of Sarah
Scantlin.

Doman served only two or three months of the six-month sentence,
Scantlin said.

"Judge Becker called. He said, 'Mr. Scantlin, the boy is curled up
in a fetal position in the corner of his cell - he has completely
lost it. I, in good conscience, have got to let him out. He needs
mental help,'" he said.

Scantlin said he told the judge he understood keeping Doman in jail
under those circumstances would be cruel.

"I said, 'Let him out and there is not going to be a word from us' -
and there wasn't," he said.

In 1987, Doman pleaded guilty to another DUI charge, according to
district court records in Reno County. He was sentenced to one year
in jail and completed 18 months probation.

Before sentencing Doman on that charge, Scantlin said Becker called
him.

"He said, 'And no mercy is going to be shown,' and I said, 'Well, it
shouldn't be,'" Scantlin said.

Sarah's mother, Betsy Scantlin, spent the years after her daughter's
accident helping other people, said Mary Ann Kourny, executive
director of the DUI Victim Center of Kansas.

Kansas is still one of the few states that does not have a law under
which people can sue a server if a drunken person leaves their
establishment and injures someone else. A bill enacting that law is
now before the state Legislature.

In 1991, Betsy Scantlin got involved in DUI victim panels. She was
in one video in which she talked about Sarah and her injuries. The
video was seen by more than 50,000 drunken driving offenders and
other youths.

She was also active in DUI victim panel programs in Hutchinson and
Wichita, where drunken drivers are sentenced to hear victims talk
about how the crime has impacted their lives.

And now the Scantlins deal with Sarah's sudden awakening.

"I just hope people will understand this is a miracle - it is
something that had never been expected and no one thought would
happen," Kourny said.

"This family is trying to cope not only with witnessing the
miracle ... but also with trying to handle their daily lives. And,
now that they are in their late years, enjoy what has been given to
them."



http://kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10907990.htm?1c



Sarah Scantlin and Terri Schiavo

This is Sarah Scantlin.


She was oblivious to the world for 20 years after being hit by a
drunk driver. She's someone's daughter and they love her. And she
miraculously spoke again a few days ago. Terri Schindler/Schiavo has
an even better claim to be kept alive than Sarah did. And Sarah's
recovery makes its own case. We don't know everything about how the
mind works; we do know that Sarah is happy to be alive. If you could
condemn Sarah to die a gruesome, slow, painful death by starvation
and dehydration, you're one kind of monster. If you can condemn
Terri Schiavo to the same fate knowing she is how she is, you're a
whole different breed of monster.


Terri's parents love her too.


http://discardedlies.com/entries/2005/02/sarah_scantlin_and_terri_sch
iavo.php


Message from Terri Schiavo's Father
February 15, 2005

Source: GOPInsight

By now you have probably heard about a young woman who is threatened
with starvation in Florida.

That young woman is my daughter, Terri. In 1990, through
circumstances which are shrouded in mystery (and may involve a
criminal act by Terri's estranged husband), my daughter was left
severely brain-damaged.


But before I go any further, I must put an end to the lies and
misinformation that are circulating around the country through the
media concerning my daughter's condition.

Contrary to anything you may have heard, Terri is NOT brain dead;
Terri is NOT in a coma; she is NOT in a "persistent vegetative
state;" nor is she on ANY life-support system.

Terri laughs, Terri cries, she moves, and she makes child-like
attempts at speech with her mother and me. Sometimes she will
say "Mom" or "Dad" or "yeah" when we ask her a question. When I kiss
her hello or goodbye, she looks at me and "puckers up" her lips.

This may not seem like much to you, but it means everything to
Terri's mother and me. It tells us she is still here, she still
knows us, and with therapy and time she can have some level of
recovery.

I know that there are some hard hearted people who believe that due
to my daughters condition, she is better off dead. Words cannot
describe the pain and anger such sentiments cause us. This is our
daughter, our little girl, and even in her disabled condition, she
still has the right to life and the right to be loved and cared for
by her family.

Why, you may ask, is Terry in danger of death by starvation?

It is a long and outrageous story, but I'll give it to you as
briefly as I can.

After the "incident" that left Terry in this condition, her husband
Michael Schiavo sued various members of the medical community for
money, saying that they did not treat or diagnose her properly at an
early stage, and that he needed this money to provide for Terri's
therapy and rehabilitation and care.

After lengthy court battles, he finally won upwards of $1.7 million
under the guise of caring for our daughter, and then to our horror,
he immediately began spending the money on himself and his Playboy
lifestyle.

Terri's estranged husband Michael Schiavo has been living with
another woman for years, and has two children by her. He is
determined to see Terri dead. Why? We believe it's because he gets
to keep whatever money is left... and he may have even darker
motives than that.

To add insult to all of this injury toward my daughter, Michael
Schiavo is still her "legal husband" and therefore is
her "guardian." And since they are not legally divorced, he controls
whatever health care she will and will not get. We are not even
allowed to know if she is getting aspirin.

In 1993 my family initiated litigation against Michael Schiavo
solely for the purpose of acquiring medical, physical and
neurological assistance for our daughter Terri. The litigation
escalated in 1998 when Michael Schiavo petitioned the court to stop
Terri from receiving food and water, thereby starving her to death.

In filing this legal action, he retained the services of a high
profile euthanasia attorney and the financial backing of powerful
euthanasia organizations. He also used Terri's medical
rehabilitation money to underwrite much of the legal expenses
associated with his effort to starve our daughter to death.

We know that he has spent nearly $500,000 of Terri's money in
attorney's fees for just one attorney trying to obtain a court order
to have Terri starved to death. The very money that was supposed to
be used for Terri's rehabilitation is being used to have her killed.

We very quickly discovered it was impossible for us to compete with
the abundance of financial and legal resources the pro-death
organizations were providing Micheal Schiavo in their effort to kill
Terri. They are pouring time and effort into her starvation because
they want to use this case to further the agenda of legalized
euthanasia.

My wife and I are not wealthy people. Throughout those years, we did
not have any large organizations trying to help rescue our daughter.
Consequently, we had to rely on the generosity of attorneys who were
willing to offer their legal expertise at no cost or at reduced
fees.

The bottom line is that we are in the final weeks or months of our
struggle to rescue our daughter from an untimely death by
starvation. Death by starvation is very slow, and extremely painful.
As you must know, it is against the law to deliberately starve an
animal to death. There are members of the Florida court who would
not treat a dog the way they plan to treat my daughter.

At this point we must pull out all the stops in our fight to rescue
our daughter.

As parents, we are desperate to save our daughter's life. As people
who love life, we are determined to deprive the euthanasia advocates
of successfully legalizing this form of homicide. We believe that
their efforts to kill Terri are designed to set a precedent for the
future eradication of defenseless disabled human beings. I was alive
when Americans fought the Nazis; I do not want my daughter to meet
the same fate of thousands of disabled people in Nazi Germany, and I
do not want our country to go down that same dark path.

Friend, though we have never met, I'm asking you for your help. We
desperately need your financial assistance to help our family
continue the battle to keep our daughter from being starved to
death. There are so many expenses in a case like this it is mind-
boggling and overwhelming. Please click below to make a contribution
now:

https://secure.cartlight.com/merchant/terri/?afid=rmemail

Our adversaries believe that by our family's financial attrition and
difficulties, they will attain their objective of killing our
daughter. Presently, Terri's starvation may only be a few weeks
away, unless we find the financial resources to prevent this
atrocity from becoming a reality.

I implore you to please help us. We are writing to you, because we
believe you have a heart for justice and mercy. I'm asking you to
put yourself in my shoes, and then do whatever you can to help our
family. Whether it is $10 or $1000, we are desperate for the
resources to fight this battle for our daughter's life at this
critical juncture.

Please do whatever you can, and forward this e-mail to any friends
or family that you have who you think might be interested in saving
Terri's life.

I thank you for your time, your concern, and I solicit your prayers
for Terri and our entire family. These have been very trying times
for us all.

Sincerely,

Bob Schindler Sr.


CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE NOW!

https://secure.cartlight.com/merchant/terri/?afid=rmemail


The Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation depends on the generosity of
others to offset some of the expenses associated with protecting
Terri.

Terri's foundation is in desperate need of support in order to
continue the legal fight to protect her life. Terri's fund has all
but dwindled in recent weeks due to new legal challenges. If you can
help in any way, we at the foundation appreciate it greatly.

Please click below to donate right away.

https://secure.cartlight.com/merchant/terri/?afid=rmemail





Hospital plans to remove patient from life support despite
daughter's wishes
February 17, 2005

BOSTON -- Massachusetts General Hospital said it will take a 79-year-
old woman off life support next week -- against the wishes of her
daughter -- and this time a judge has declined to block the move.

ADVERTISEMENT
Barbara Howe has advanced-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also
known as Lou Gehrig's disease, an incurable and degenerative muscle
condition. She has been in a hospital bed on a ventilator since
1997. She cannot speak and can barely move, but remains mentally
alert, says her daughter, Carol Carvitt.

"Her face lights up when you talk to her," Carvitt said. "I visit
her four times a week, and my sister visits her every single day.
You can see the eye move back and forth and her mouth starts moving."

The hospital went to court last year to get permission to remove
Howe from life support, but probate court Judge John M. Smoot ruled
in Carvitt's favor, barring the hospital from disconnecting her. But
the judge also advised Carvitt to consider what was in her mother's
best interest, not what she believed her mother would want.

Dr. Britain Nicholson, Mass. General's chief medical officer, said
Wednesday that he ordered Howe taken off life support next week
following an evaluation that determined her condition had worsened
and she was suffering. He said he informed Carvitt with a phone call
and a letter earlier this month.

Carvitt's lawyer, Gary Zalkin, went back to probate court seeking a
temporary restraining order to stop the hospital from removing life
support, but was turned down last week.

According to Zalkin, Smoot left Carvitt the option of renewing her
motion after getting more information from the hospital. Zalkin said
the family was reviewing its legal options.

"I'm devastated and I'm angry," Carvitt said. "Devastated because
they're trying to terminate my mother's life. And angry because
they're violating a court order."

The hospital said it plans no further legal action.

"This situation is very sad and enormously difficult for all those
involved," the hospital said in a statement Thursday. "Everyone is
focused on trying to do the right thing for Barbara Howe, but in
this case, there are differing views about what the right thing is."

http://boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/17/hospit
al_plans_to_remove_patient_from_life_support_despite_wishes_of_family
/