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A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo -- A Lesson for Us All
A year after Terri Schiavo's controversial death, her parents and siblings share their love and sorrow, their joy and pain, and stunning revelations as they celebrate Terri's life, mourn her death, and tell the whole story of the woman and the battle that captivated millions.
251 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2006
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113 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 1, 2013
Terri's death is the most profoundly disturbing event of my lifetime. Unimaginable pain and confusion for the family. It is simply beyond my capacity to imagine anyone supporting a two week starvation of a living being.....let alone a family member. Torture. The Schindler family has my utmost respect for taking a horrific experience and trying to make a difference in this crazy world. This book, although difficult to read at times, has a message for us all. Beware.
November 20, 2009
This book is only sporadically funny. I enjoyed the parts about Terri's crazing, thumping parents -- and the whole hysteria when the plug was pulled was unforgettable. But the sense that our whole country was up in arms over a braindead woman says very little for our civility.
May 31, 2018
I didn't down-rate this book because I disagree with the Schindler family's position, although I do. What happened to their daughter is a tragedy, and it's easy to understand their desire to turn away from the fact of her irrevocable brain damage, but this book isn't even their story. It has their names on it and sort of talks about their family, their daughter, but it doesn't sound at all like it was written by actual grieving parents. I'm willing to believe they skimmed the manuscript and gave approval but that's as far as I'd go.
So what is it? A collection of FOX News reports, Republican talking points, and really shitty science tied together with the strings of celebrity scandal. Somehow it manages to be hundreds of pages about one of the worst things anyone can imagine, and yet totally devoid of emotional depth or any hint of sincerity. As if there were no people involved in its creation at all. Reading this book made it harder to believe Terri Schiavo was ever a real person with real parents and siblings and a life. It turned her into a cause, a construct, a thing to be on one side of or the other to raise money or win an election. And it does all that in her mother's name.
So what is it? A collection of FOX News reports, Republican talking points, and really shitty science tied together with the strings of celebrity scandal. Somehow it manages to be hundreds of pages about one of the worst things anyone can imagine, and yet totally devoid of emotional depth or any hint of sincerity. As if there were no people involved in its creation at all. Reading this book made it harder to believe Terri Schiavo was ever a real person with real parents and siblings and a life. It turned her into a cause, a construct, a thing to be on one side of or the other to raise money or win an election. And it does all that in her mother's name.
July 28, 2008
I was very interested in this topic. It would be interesting to read a book by Michael Schiavo because the book, for obvious reasons, was very biased. So biased, it borderlined truth for me. I would love to hear what Michael has to say. If this book is close to the truth, we live in a very sad world.
January 1, 2022
Very torn about this entire book/situation. As a nurse I find what Terri went through extremely hard to believe, but then again, dark things happen, even in places that are supposed to supply the most light in the world. I would love to read testimony from Michael, but even more so, would love to have been a fly on the wall for so many of the court hearings to take in my own thoughts about the Judge. Reading this book and especially reading the MD testimonials in the back of the book definitely make you wonder about what the truth really is. If this doesn't make you want to fill out a living will, I don't know what would!
January 17, 2018
Terri's husband wanted her dead, Terri's parents wanted her alive. The husband had control of his wife's medical treatment or denial of it. Terri's parents asked only for their daughter (Terri Schiavo) and nothing else. Michael (the husband) could keep all things from the marriage and keep all money from a law suit he had won. I'm sure there are two sides to the story but how Terri Schiavo was murdered at the hands of our justice system is horrific. Terri couldn't say she wanted to live.... she also couldn't say she wanted a divorce from a husband that had another girlfriend and children with this girlfriend. Stopping medical treatment is one thing...stopping nutrition and hydration is not medical treatment. Not allowing her parents to put Vaseline on their dying daughter's chapped lips is so inhumane it is unfathomable. This story was so painful to read; I cannot imagine the hell the parent's and family suffered. This was not death with dignity...this was a cruel legalized murder. We don't even watch a cat or dog die like this...they get a quick shot. A devastating true story :(
August 23, 2016
This makes me want to have classes required in school about discussions of each others' feelings of an acceptable life. Then, perhaps when a child gets a driver's license they can be offered a chance to fill out a living will and designate a medical power of attorney. Each time the license is renewed, it could be updated, if desired, with insight and maturity. Every person needs to talk with their family about what is an acceptable life and what they want for end of life care.
There is more to the story of HOW Terri Schiavo suffered a brain injury. Perhaps only her husband will ever know that truth.
My heart also goes out to Terri's family. They continue to grieve, while working on what they believe is a righteous cause.
However...I find it impossible to believe that Terri would have chosen this long and horrible maze of years, trapped in her brain-damaged body. I find it impossible to believe that she would have wanted her family to totally upend their lives for years and years...instead of dying peacefully and letting her family grieve her untimely death.
I do not agree that she was murdered. I believe life support was withheld and she finally died a peaceful death. After WAY too much time where the only winners were the attorneys and sensationalist press.
My papers are in order. My family knows what I would want. My doctor has copies of my wishes. I believe this is a gift I can give to my family.
So...lesson learned (long ago) but not the lesson the Schindler's are preaching. No one should have to lose a child, spouse, or parent. But no one should be forced to live a life in an irreparable brain injured state.
Reader...make your wishes known...legally and to more than one person.
There is more to the story of HOW Terri Schiavo suffered a brain injury. Perhaps only her husband will ever know that truth.
My heart also goes out to Terri's family. They continue to grieve, while working on what they believe is a righteous cause.
However...I find it impossible to believe that Terri would have chosen this long and horrible maze of years, trapped in her brain-damaged body. I find it impossible to believe that she would have wanted her family to totally upend their lives for years and years...instead of dying peacefully and letting her family grieve her untimely death.
I do not agree that she was murdered. I believe life support was withheld and she finally died a peaceful death. After WAY too much time where the only winners were the attorneys and sensationalist press.
My papers are in order. My family knows what I would want. My doctor has copies of my wishes. I believe this is a gift I can give to my family.
So...lesson learned (long ago) but not the lesson the Schindler's are preaching. No one should have to lose a child, spouse, or parent. But no one should be forced to live a life in an irreparable brain injured state.
Reader...make your wishes known...legally and to more than one person.
May 21, 2018
What an atrocity this was! This was the true case of a woman being deliberately starved and dehydrated to death because she was disabled. Just an abomination! How sad it is that this could have ever been allowed to happen. I know the word "Nazi" is overused these days (and usually used to falsely slander people too), but this case truly was just like something that would have happened in Nazi Germany. That word truly fits what went on in this case. I remember how outraged I was when this happened and how outraged I was by the lack of outrage by some. One could not get away with deliberately starving and dehydrating an animal to death. One would be charged with cruelty to animals if this were done to a dog or a cat or any other animal. Yet this was allowed to be deliberately done to an innocent woman simply because she was disabled. I also thought of all those anti-death-penalty activists when this was going on and how they are always so willing to protest and stand up for the lives of convicted murderers. Yet most of those people were nowhere to be found when it came to standing up for the life of this innocent disabled woman. What twisted priorities some have! If only she had been a convicted murderer instead of an innocent disabled woman all those anti-death-penalty activists would have been there to defend her life. I have never forgotten this case and never will. So sad that there is such a disregard for human life. This isn't pleasant reading due to the fact that it deals with an absolute atrocity that never should have been allowed to happen and it doesn't have a happy ending. There was no justice for Terri or her family. So, it's definitely not a pleasant book to read but it's an important one. May this never be allowed to happen again.
September 24, 2024
THE FAMILY OF THE FAMOUS “RIGHT TO LIVE” CASE TELLS THEIR SIDE
The family wrote in the Preface to this 2006 book, “Our story is not the one we believe you were told, the one you saw on television and read in the newspapers. Our story---the real story---has never been told; no one, not even our closest friends, knew the struggles we went through mentally and emotionally as fifteen terrible years went by. Yes, we sought what public tools we could… so we could stand as advocates for a woman who couldn’t defend herself… But to do so was agony, and each of us wants now to retreat into our own grief, our private prayers, our silent sorrow.
"A year ago, our girl was lost to us. The outpouring of support couldn’t save her… We lost. Terri lost. America lost. In upholding Michael Schiavo’s position to have his wife’s life terminated, the courts ruled for death over life, and we are individually and collectively diminished by their decision. Many people have asked us to write a book, and we’ve always said no… But… we realize we owe her this book as a way of making sure that what happened will never happen again. Millions of people wrestle with the question of what they’d do if they faced our situation. This book… may guide them to the answer. We believe that Terri was nothing less than the victim of judicial murder.”
Her brother Bobby said, “By that point, I was resigned that it was all over. I was praying that her suffering would end… What made me so edgy was that two days earlier, an obituary of Terri was released on CBSNews.com. It said that, made up and dressed, she died surrounded by stuffed animals, Michael---‘her only love’---by her side. It’s true that she had stuffed animals, but I don’t think after what we’d seen that she could be described as dressed and made up, and it CERTAINLY wasn’t true that she was dead! The obituary was all hearts and flowers, scripted for public consumption, so everybody would think Terri had died peacefully.” (Pg. 4-5)
He mother said, “[Terri] Started crying. She said that her relationship was horrible. She wanted to divorce him but felt she could never do it… And she was a devout Catholic. She wasn’t SUPPOSED to get divorced… she’d never really opened up to me like this about her relationship with Michael… If only Terri had confided in me. Would it all have turned out different? Would we have supported her to leave him? Would leaving him have saved her life?” (Pg. 38-39)
She admits that “True, even at the beginning, there were times, even days, when she was unresponsive, but more often than not she was with us. And it was inconceivable to us that she wouldn’t get better.” (Pg. 41) But “In the summer of 1991, [Michael] transferred Terri … to the Sabal palms nursing home… Michael told us MediPlex had recommended we discontinue rehab… This was the beginning of the end. From that point forward, Terri was denied any chance of improving. Tragically, she was never to receive any rehabilitation or therapy again. We were legally unable to stop him---we had, remember, given up our right to have any say in any medical decisions regarding our daughter---but he told us he was doing it for her good…” (Pg. 51-52)
She adds, “The case didn’t come into court until January 2000, perhaps because the court was waiting for the Florida Legislature to enact a law… allowing feeding tubes to be declared artificial life support. (The feeding tube was the only ‘support’ Terri needed, and to us it was tantamount to declaring IVs artificial life support, which would put a whole lot of not very sick patients in danger of having them removed.” (Pg. 65) Later, she argues, “while it is incontestably true that Terri was severely brain-injured, that does NOT mean she was brain-dead or even PVS. The distinction is vital.” (Pg. 214)
When in court their lawyer “acknowledged that Terri was PVS [Persistent Vegetative State]. But that’s half our case! we wanted to scream. Her rationale was that she wasn’t sure she could find a doctor who would disagree with that diagnosis… In retrospect, however, not bringing in our own doctor was a terrible mistake.” (Pg. 68-69) They went to see their Catholic bishop: “We believe that if he had intervened, if he had testified that the church opposed the taking of life in any form, if he had asked his priests to mobilize the hundreds of thousands of parishioners … to say that Terri was a human being even though badly injured, the entire trial might have ended differently, and Terri might be alive today. But Bishop Lynch… turned his back… It wasn’t only Bishop Lynch who disappointed us. In 2004, my family sent a letter to every Catholic bishop of every diocese in the United States asking them to publicly speak out about what was happening to Terri. We received only three affirmative responses.” (Pg. 81-82)
Then after Pope John Paul II made an address in March 2004, “he made it indisputably clear that we must never deny food and drink to patients in a vegetative state…. No human being ever descends to the status of a ‘vegetable’ or an animal, Pope John Paul said… The pope’s statement seemed a blessing from God, and we felt humbled, thankful, awed, and wildly excited.” (Pg. 182-183)
She adds, “We believe it is no coincidence that on the very day Terri died from having food and water denied her, Pope John Paul II, her chief shepherd on earth and the man who promulgated the Gospel of Life, received a feeding tube for nutrition, hydration, and comfort.” (Pg. (209)
For anyone wanting to get the family’s perspective on this highly controversial case, this book will be fascinating reading.
The family wrote in the Preface to this 2006 book, “Our story is not the one we believe you were told, the one you saw on television and read in the newspapers. Our story---the real story---has never been told; no one, not even our closest friends, knew the struggles we went through mentally and emotionally as fifteen terrible years went by. Yes, we sought what public tools we could… so we could stand as advocates for a woman who couldn’t defend herself… But to do so was agony, and each of us wants now to retreat into our own grief, our private prayers, our silent sorrow.
"A year ago, our girl was lost to us. The outpouring of support couldn’t save her… We lost. Terri lost. America lost. In upholding Michael Schiavo’s position to have his wife’s life terminated, the courts ruled for death over life, and we are individually and collectively diminished by their decision. Many people have asked us to write a book, and we’ve always said no… But… we realize we owe her this book as a way of making sure that what happened will never happen again. Millions of people wrestle with the question of what they’d do if they faced our situation. This book… may guide them to the answer. We believe that Terri was nothing less than the victim of judicial murder.”
Her brother Bobby said, “By that point, I was resigned that it was all over. I was praying that her suffering would end… What made me so edgy was that two days earlier, an obituary of Terri was released on CBSNews.com. It said that, made up and dressed, she died surrounded by stuffed animals, Michael---‘her only love’---by her side. It’s true that she had stuffed animals, but I don’t think after what we’d seen that she could be described as dressed and made up, and it CERTAINLY wasn’t true that she was dead! The obituary was all hearts and flowers, scripted for public consumption, so everybody would think Terri had died peacefully.” (Pg. 4-5)
He mother said, “[Terri] Started crying. She said that her relationship was horrible. She wanted to divorce him but felt she could never do it… And she was a devout Catholic. She wasn’t SUPPOSED to get divorced… she’d never really opened up to me like this about her relationship with Michael… If only Terri had confided in me. Would it all have turned out different? Would we have supported her to leave him? Would leaving him have saved her life?” (Pg. 38-39)
She admits that “True, even at the beginning, there were times, even days, when she was unresponsive, but more often than not she was with us. And it was inconceivable to us that she wouldn’t get better.” (Pg. 41) But “In the summer of 1991, [Michael] transferred Terri … to the Sabal palms nursing home… Michael told us MediPlex had recommended we discontinue rehab… This was the beginning of the end. From that point forward, Terri was denied any chance of improving. Tragically, she was never to receive any rehabilitation or therapy again. We were legally unable to stop him---we had, remember, given up our right to have any say in any medical decisions regarding our daughter---but he told us he was doing it for her good…” (Pg. 51-52)
She adds, “The case didn’t come into court until January 2000, perhaps because the court was waiting for the Florida Legislature to enact a law… allowing feeding tubes to be declared artificial life support. (The feeding tube was the only ‘support’ Terri needed, and to us it was tantamount to declaring IVs artificial life support, which would put a whole lot of not very sick patients in danger of having them removed.” (Pg. 65) Later, she argues, “while it is incontestably true that Terri was severely brain-injured, that does NOT mean she was brain-dead or even PVS. The distinction is vital.” (Pg. 214)
When in court their lawyer “acknowledged that Terri was PVS [Persistent Vegetative State]. But that’s half our case! we wanted to scream. Her rationale was that she wasn’t sure she could find a doctor who would disagree with that diagnosis… In retrospect, however, not bringing in our own doctor was a terrible mistake.” (Pg. 68-69) They went to see their Catholic bishop: “We believe that if he had intervened, if he had testified that the church opposed the taking of life in any form, if he had asked his priests to mobilize the hundreds of thousands of parishioners … to say that Terri was a human being even though badly injured, the entire trial might have ended differently, and Terri might be alive today. But Bishop Lynch… turned his back… It wasn’t only Bishop Lynch who disappointed us. In 2004, my family sent a letter to every Catholic bishop of every diocese in the United States asking them to publicly speak out about what was happening to Terri. We received only three affirmative responses.” (Pg. 81-82)
Then after Pope John Paul II made an address in March 2004, “he made it indisputably clear that we must never deny food and drink to patients in a vegetative state…. No human being ever descends to the status of a ‘vegetable’ or an animal, Pope John Paul said… The pope’s statement seemed a blessing from God, and we felt humbled, thankful, awed, and wildly excited.” (Pg. 182-183)
She adds, “We believe it is no coincidence that on the very day Terri died from having food and water denied her, Pope John Paul II, her chief shepherd on earth and the man who promulgated the Gospel of Life, received a feeding tube for nutrition, hydration, and comfort.” (Pg. (209)
For anyone wanting to get the family’s perspective on this highly controversial case, this book will be fascinating reading.
September 9, 2008
I was very very disturbed by the Schiavo case a few years ago. This book helped me to understand from the parents point of view - a painful one - that having a will and letting others clearly and publicly know your intentions will dispel any confusion and heartbreak in the end if critical decisions have to be made on your behalf. My sympathy goes out to these parents heartbreak.
August 1, 2008
This book was written by Teri Schivao's family (mother, father, brother & sister) after her death in 2005. A touching story, though rather difficult to read in places. If you read this book, you should also read Terri: The Truth by Michael Schiavo (Terri's husband).
November 19, 2013
Interesting to hear their side of what was going on with Terry, her husband, the press, the judges, the Doctors, etc. It's a sad, heartbreaking journey for everyone involved. This is a huge reminder for my husband and I to fill out our living wills.
July 27, 2011
A poweful viewpoint of an extremely controversial issue!
May 9, 2016
A detailed account of the Terri Schiavo case, though obviously, it is heavily biased. It would be interesting to also have Michael Schiavo's point of view - and find the truth in the middle ground.
February 6, 2024
I've added this book to my favorites shelf, but not because it was "enjoyable." There are parts of this book that brought me to tears, but it is a very important book. Coming of age right around the time that the battle for Terri's life was raging, there were so many details that were never mentioned in the news coverage that I saw. I'd always just kind of assumed that Terri had ended up in the facilities that she was in due to a terminal illness and that she was on a respirator being kept alive by machine. Learning the details that I never knew makes me feel even more strongly that Terri was, in fact, murdered. There are people who have to be tube fed for the entirety of their lives due to challenges faced since birth who are in every other way healthy. The idea that someone be taken off of that lifeline and starved simply because a spouse, ready to re-marry, wishes it is the most disgusting notion one can imagine.
It's too short of a book to not read and find out that there was so much more to this story than the media covered.
It's too short of a book to not read and find out that there was so much more to this story than the media covered.
October 19, 2025
This was one of the two most enraging books I've ever read. I remember when this was happening and how extremely upset I was by the judge ordering Terri's feeding tube removed. After reading this, however, I realize that I didn't even know half of what Terri and her family went through. What Michael Schaivo, his attorney Felos, and Judge Greer did to this woman and her family was beyond evil. Frankly, it still makes me furious and sick that they were allowed to lie about, mistreat, and starve a human being to death--all with the approval of the legal system. It's just as outrageous now as it was then, and Heaven will hold them accountable.
November 17, 2022
It was a beautiful story, but I had trouble getting through this one. It's so heartbreaking what happened to Terri, as well as how she was treated in her last days with a lack of dignity, but she was an unspoken "voice" for those with disabilities and challenged the ongoing "Right to Die" controversy- obviously, there is a lot of gray matter and research to be done. God bless you and be free with Jesus, sweet angel!
November 22, 2025
Gosh such a sad story, I remember it popping up in the news here and there.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews