- Comments From Cheryl Ford RN:
-
- After you read Mr. Brodersen's letter many of you may
ask why can't Terri be given the proper therapy she needs so she can speak
for herself?
-
- Answer in short:
-
- Keep in mind that Terri has repeatedly been denied by
Michael Schiavo her own legal counsel, therapy, and the right to present
herself into a court room. The family is NOT permitted to record or photograph
her. Even if they were allowed, Judge Greer has denied the right to provide
evidence. _____
-
- My name is Tom Brodersen. I am attorney Pat Anderson's
office manager, formerly her fiance, and more recently, her husband. I
have personal knowledge about Terri Schiavo's actual neurological condition
and responsiveness which we could not use before because of Pat's role
as attorney for the Schindler family. That is now changed, and I cannot
sit quietly by and passively observe a miscarriage of justice.
-
- During the period of September to November of 2002 (from
just before to shortly after the medical evidentiary hearing featuring
five doctors as witnesses), I spent time with Terri Schiavo, as a person
(briefly) on her visitors list.
-
- During that time I gently spoke to her, built rapport
and trust, sang to her, played music for her, and encouraged her to vocalize.
Over the twenty days or so that I visited with Terri, I observed that,
while Terri is distrustful of strangers, she gradually warmed up to me
(and not so gradually after Bob, Mary and I sang "Those Were the Days"
to her as a trio!). Terri responds to a variety of stimulii, including
responding to both her mother's and my voices, both in person and over
the phone, by fixing her attention and frequently by laughing.
-
- When I sang to her, she often VOCALIZED, in her best
effort to sing along with me. She recognizes and takes great pleasure
in certain singers and songs which ARE her favorites (most especially John
Denver singing "Country Roads"). She learned to love several
songs I sang to her with which she didn't seem to be familiar with, but
others she never learned to appreciate (just not her cup of tea, obviously).
-
- She responded to gentle requests if given time and patience,
such as lifting her right leg (three times out of four requests, the other
time she lifted her left leg instead).
-
- While she does not have consistent control over her eyes
to blink or look this way or that, she has excellent control over her breathing,
diaphram and voice, and will vocalize in various patterns if asked. While
trying to work out a yes/no system with sounds, Terri initially answered
the question "Terri, are you ten feet tall" by moaning twice,
which is the response for "No," then she spontaneously whispered
the word "No" in response to the question "Terry, are you
purple?".
-
- At that point I abandoned the sounding system and started
trying to teach her to say "Yeah" as best as she could. Bob
Schindler has several recordings of her sort of saying the word "Yeah"
shortly after that.
-
- Unfortunately, I was then taken off Terri's visitors
list, but on successive occasions (as recently as last October, approximately
two years since I last saw her in person), when her father placed a phone
to Terri's ear so I could talk to her, she laughed as soon as she heard
my voice, and tried to sing along with me when I sang to her over the phone.
-
- Terri is not just "in there," she is very responsive,
she loves music, and she is my friend. Please don't kill her.
-
- Tom Brodersen
-
- ***************
-
- Fight4Terri @aol.com
- www.fight4terri.blogspot.com Visit Terri's site: www.terrisfight.org
-
- Cheryl Ford, RN (Fight4Terri@aol.com) is not affiliated
with any other group and works as an independent volunteer promoting the
protection of Florida's disabled community.
|
