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CNN Sunday Morning
Struggle Over Fate of Comatose Woman Continues Tomorrow in Florida Court
Aired October 13, 2002 - 11:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A legal struggle over the fate of a comatose woman continues to tomorrow in a Florida courtroom. The woman's husband wants to remove her feeding tube and allow her to die. But her parents are fighting that effort. CNN's John Zarrella reports from Clearwater.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bob and Mary Schindler say they're in the fight of her life. In 1990, their then- 26-year-old daughter Terri went into cardiac arrest and has been in a coma ever since. Now they are approaching what they hope is the end to a bitter legal battle with Terri's husband, over whether Terri should live, or be allowed to die.
Terri suffers from severe brain damage and eats through a feeding tube, but her family, who shot this video, believes she can be rehabilitated.
MARY SCHINDLER, TERRI'S MOTHER: I've always thought there was hope. When I go in there, you know, and she's responding to me, she knows I'm there.
MICHAEL SCHIAVO, TERRI'S HUSBAND: She recognizes nobody. She has no brain left, basically.
ZARRELLA: Terri's legal guardian is her husband, Michael Schiavo. He no longer believes she can be helped. He says Terri once told him she never wanted to be on life support.
SCHIAVO: She wouldn't want to live like this. She wouldn't want to survive like this. And that's all she's doing is just -- she's surviving. There's nothing there.
ZARRELLA: Last year, Schiavo won a court ruling to have Terri's feeding tube removed, only to have an appeals court order it back in. Later, a doctor hired by the court found that, quote, "her chances of meaningful neurologic recovery to be virtually nonexistent," end quote. But the Schindlers say a videotape of the doctor's exams to be shown at the hearings will prove Terri is cognitive.
BOB SCHINDLER, TERRI'S FATHER: It will prove once and for all that she's not in the condition that she was represented. And we have an opportunity to take control over her and to rehabilitate her. ZARRELLA: Both sides claim they're acting in Terri's best interests, But it's the legal system that will ultimately decide whether she lives or dies.
John Zarrella, CNN, Clearwater, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Florida Court>
Aired October 13, 2002 - 11:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A legal struggle over the fate of a comatose woman continues to tomorrow in a Florida courtroom. The woman's husband wants to remove her feeding tube and allow her to die. But her parents are fighting that effort. CNN's John Zarrella reports from Clearwater.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bob and Mary Schindler say they're in the fight of her life. In 1990, their then- 26-year-old daughter Terri went into cardiac arrest and has been in a coma ever since. Now they are approaching what they hope is the end to a bitter legal battle with Terri's husband, over whether Terri should live, or be allowed to die.
Terri suffers from severe brain damage and eats through a feeding tube, but her family, who shot this video, believes she can be rehabilitated.
MARY SCHINDLER, TERRI'S MOTHER: I've always thought there was hope. When I go in there, you know, and she's responding to me, she knows I'm there.
MICHAEL SCHIAVO, TERRI'S HUSBAND: She recognizes nobody. She has no brain left, basically.
ZARRELLA: Terri's legal guardian is her husband, Michael Schiavo. He no longer believes she can be helped. He says Terri once told him she never wanted to be on life support.
SCHIAVO: She wouldn't want to live like this. She wouldn't want to survive like this. And that's all she's doing is just -- she's surviving. There's nothing there.
ZARRELLA: Last year, Schiavo won a court ruling to have Terri's feeding tube removed, only to have an appeals court order it back in. Later, a doctor hired by the court found that, quote, "her chances of meaningful neurologic recovery to be virtually nonexistent," end quote. But the Schindlers say a videotape of the doctor's exams to be shown at the hearings will prove Terri is cognitive.
BOB SCHINDLER, TERRI'S FATHER: It will prove once and for all that she's not in the condition that she was represented. And we have an opportunity to take control over her and to rehabilitate her. ZARRELLA: Both sides claim they're acting in Terri's best interests, But it's the legal system that will ultimately decide whether she lives or dies.
John Zarrella, CNN, Clearwater, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Florida Court>
