Leaving Your Affairs In Order In Case Of Tragedy

Extract

Many readers will have followed the debate last year relating to Terri Schiavo and the tug-of-war between her husband and her parents over whether she should be kept alive following a heart attack in 1990 (during which she suffered severe brain damage). Terri, who was described by doctors as being in “a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery”, became the centre-piece in a national right-to-die battle in the U.S.A. following a dispute between those closest to her. After years of litigation, Terri finally died on 31 March last year after doctors removed the feeding tube that had sustained her for more than a decade. The tube was removed in accordance with her husband’s request and insistence that his wife would not have wanted to live in her condition. This view was not shared by her parents who sought unsuccessfully to take guardianship of their daughter from her husband.

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