Woman Wakes From Coma

This is my vindication. Twenty years ago, Sara was hit by a drunk driver and has been in a coma ever since. She was officially declared to be in a vegetative state. Friday night, Sara started talking again, surprising her neurosurgeon.

I have a living trust, and I made sure that my wishes are included. I want the same chance Sara had. I want to be able to be one of the people who comes out of a coma someday. It's like winning the lottery, I know, but still... I want to be kept alive, because I want to be able to wake up.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that studies have shown that brain-injured people who are labeled "unresponsive" do show signs of awarenes of their surroundings. These aren't just subjective signs, but the results of MRI brain-imaging scans.

The NYT article states, "Dr. Bernat said findings from studies like these would be relevant to cases like that of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman with brain damage who has been kept alive for years against her husband's wishes. In that case, which drew the attention of Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature, relatives of Ms. Schiavo disagreed about her condition, and a brain-imaging test - once it has been standardized - could help determine whether brain damage has extinguished awareness."

Unfortunately for Terri, this study may come too late. Time after time, her parents have appealed to the courts and to the governor to have Terri kept alive, but Terri's husband is her legal guardian, and he wants her dead. As her parents try different legal methods to save Terri, their cases keep being sent back to the same Florida Circuit Court Judge, George W. Greer, who has decided repeatedly in favor of her husband, Michael Schiavo. But Michael has two children with his girlfriend, and Terri has quite a bit of money in a trust fund that was established as a result of a lawsuit. The purpose of the trust fund was to pay for Terri's care and to try to rehabilitate her, but Michael has not permitted rehabilitative care for her. Instead, when Terri dies, Michael will inherit her trust fund and will be free to marry his girlfriend. If he divorces Terri, he would not have access to the trust fund. In spite of this obvious conflict of interest on Michael's part, Judge Greer has ruled again and again in favor of Michael's request to remove Terri's feeding tube. It gets discouraging.

I can't imagine how Terri's family feels right now, and I pray they will get a call from Terri soon, the way Sara's parents did this past Friday.