David's World

March 31, 2005

Brain-damaged Terri Schiavo left this world 15 years ago

It wasn't that Terri Schiavo couldn't tell her opinion at this point. She had lost her ability to have an opinion 15 years ago. Crucial parts of her brain have been dead since - according to courts and experts, she was in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). (The picture shows her before her 1990 collapse - taken from Wikipedia.)

Terri Schiavo didn't feel what was happening around her, she felt not worry nor fear, she had no plans or hopes and after all we know, she did not dream. I believe she has lost what once made her a thinking human being. I'm sorry for the tragedy that happened to her 15 years ago, but I am glad that her wishes were finally respected.

To say it publicly: I would not wish to be kept alive as a basket-case. While I would welcome everything that could be done to save my life, the term life, in this context, refers to a human being with the essential cognitive capability to reason and, at least in some form, to communicate with the outer world. My spirit is to contribute to society and to people around me, and feeding and nursing my mindless body over decades only does the opposite. In many respects, existing in a PVS would hurt my dignity as the individual that I was before entering a PVS.