The_Silent_Witness

The Silent Witness The case of Theresa Shiavo gained national attention because it was an extremely controversial subject. Following a collapse in February 1990 of heart failure, when she was only 26 years old, Terri had been in a coma for three months. When she regained consciousness she was in the generally unresponsive state in which she would remain for 15 years. She remained on a feeding tube to keep her alive. Her husband, Michael Shiavo, stated that it was not Terri’s wish to be kept alive in this way and that she should be taken off the feeding tube and allowed to die. Her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, did not agree and petitioned the court to allow their daughter to continue on the life-support. This sparked major press coverage and the attention of Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, Congress and the White House. Over the years, more than 40 judges have been involved with this case. On the morning of February 25, 1990, Theresa Shiavo collapsed in the hallway of her home in St. Petersburg, Florida of what appeared to be heart failure. It is not known what caused the heart failure; however, it was well known that Terri had been concerned terri, shiavo, said, vegetative, terri’s, state, brain, death, feeding, tube, been, parents, heart, autopsy, take, should, persistent, michael, however, daughter, case, years, schiavo, over, it’s, issue, irreversible, failure, doctors, died, damage, court, continue, condition, care, bush