Recovered “Vegetative State’ Patient Kate Adamson Supports Terri

March 15, 2005

Here’s an intriguing story at LifeSite reporting that Kate Adamson shared the account of her own sufferings and recovery at a rally for Terry Schiavo. From the article:

Struck down in 1995 at the age of thirty-three by a rare double brainstem stroke, Kate, then a mother of two young girls, was completely paralyzed; she was unable even to blink her eyes. Like Terri Schiavo, the medical staff treating her questioned the merit of continuing granting Kate the most basic human right of food and water.

More from the story:

Kate Adamson’s feeding tube was at one point removed for a full eight days before being reinserted due to the intervention of her husband (also a competent lawyer).

Frequently described by medical authorities as a humane way to die, Kate – now as vibrant and beautiful as before her stroke – testified before the crowd of Terri’s family and supporters that this form of legalized execution was “one of the most painful experiences you can imagine.” Unable to respond or to indicate awareness, Kate Adamson asserts, “I was just like Terri…but I was alive! I could hear every word. They were saying ‘shall we just not treat her?’…I suffered excruciating misery in silence.”

How chilling is this?

I love this final paragraph:

During her early-afternoon speech Kate declared that “If they want to kill Terri they should have the guts to put a gun to her head” rather than condemn her to such a slow and painful death. She finished off by summing up the full import of the Schiavo case, saying, “The measure of a society is how they treat the least of us. Life is sacred or meaningless, there is nothing in between.”

I’ve had some interesting e-mails in response to my column, mostly in complete agreement, but a few quite upset with the position I’ve taken. Some of these people just want Terri to get out of the way so that her hospital bed can be used by more “needy” people. What most disturbs me about the “unsympathetic” is that they think they are being sympathetic and compassionate. They believe — irreversibly — that Terri is suffering and does not want to live. Or, I suppose some of them believe she ought not be allowed to make the decision to keep living if to do so will inconvenience others. I can’t get over the devaluation of life that has occurred in this nation over the last 30 years.

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