"IT SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN"

Last Friday, the family of Terri Schiavo sat down with Sean Hannity for their first interview since her death on March 31, 2005.

From FOX:

Exclusive: The Schindler Family Speaks Out in Their First Interview Since Terri Schiavo's Death

(Excerpts)

HANNITY: Let me go back to you guys. And this is your sister. I want to go back to the day she died. Michael's attorney, Mr. Felos, said she never looked so beautiful, never looked so calm. It was a calm, peaceful and gentle death.

You were there up to almost the moment that your sister died. Is that how you'd describe it?

BOBBY SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S BROTHER: Absolutely not. It was the most barbaric — I use the word barbaric over and over. It was grotesque. I've seen my sister having to go through what she was going through. It was simply — I'm at a loss for words.

It was something that I can't believe we are allowing to happen to human beings, that we are actually starving and dehydrating to death. I mean, I can describe the way my sister looked, but it was just — it was horrible.

HANNITY: Yes.

SUZANNE VITADAMO, TERRI SCHIAVO'S SISTER: It was very difficult to watch, you know. It was grotesque. And you know, she was struggling to — it was just the whole — I can remember it like it was yesterday, just the visual of, you know, her body, the way she looked, you know, how her eyes were sunken in. She looked like a skeleton. She was struggling to breathe. I mean, that's not a very peaceful...

HANNITY: How heavy did she breathe, because you were there? This is your daughter.

R. SCHINDLER: It was so gut-wrenching, seeing her deteriorate. And people were misled at the fact that it was a peaceful way for her to die. Her face, the difference, the contrast from when that had started, the starvation. Her cheekbones, at the end, that's all we could see was her cheekbones. And her eyes were sunken within her head. And it looked like her teeth...

HANNITY: Why would somebody then describe it calm, peaceful, somebody never looked so beautiful in their life?

(CROSSTALK)

R. SCHINDLER: That was incredible.

VITADAMO: To justify what they were doing.

B. SCHINDLER: I think it — to tell you — they're mischaracterizing the way she died, just as they mischaracterizing Terri's condition prior to the starvation. They have to do this. This is a big lie. Because if they described what was really happening, I think, you know, the nation would be outraged with allowing this to take place.

HANNITY: If it's so peaceful, why no photos?

B. SCHINDLER: Exactly.

HANNITY: Why no video? When's the last time we saw an updated video of Terri?

B. SCHINDLER: And the same for her condition. They would not allow videos in to see Terri's condition, either. And it's for the same reason, because they continue to mischaracterize her condition. They needed to mischaracterize the way she died.
......

R. SCHINDLER: So even after the fact, I went in there and there were two policemen in the room. And they would not allow us near Terri after she was dead.

HANNITY: Why?

R. SCHINDLER: And Mary was there with her. And they didn't give us a moment of privacy. And I pleaded with the policeman, "Please leave the room..."

HANNITY: Yes.

R. SCHINDLER: "... and give us, the family, a moment of privacy with Terri." And they wouldn't allow Terri's uncle in the room. And the policeman — he was going to arrest me, I believe, because I was insisting that we have some privacy with Terri.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: That was — that was also the last time you saw her.

R. SCHINDLER: Yes. Throughout the entire two weeks...

HANNITY: What were they afraid, you were going to put an ice chip on her at that point, or...

R. SCHINDLER: Who only knows?

B. SCHINDLER: I think — I think they were told to be in the room. I think they were scared that we were going to take videos or pictures of Terri, which was absolutely — it's absolutely obscene that our family would even consider doing something like that. But I think that's why the police were ordered to be in the room.

R. SCHINDLER: Through that whole period, we were never permitted to be with Terri by herself. There was always policemen...

HANNITY: And you had told me that you couldn't even go in there. They were right over you and...

R. SCHINDLER: They were hovering over us.

HANNITY: You're the mom. This is your daughter. Couldn't give her an ice chip when she was dying, and then you couldn't give her, basically, a hug without having a police officer. How hard is that?

M. SCHINDLER: I had to whisper in her ear. I wanted to tell her anything that I wanted — just stuff that I wanted to tell her. I couldn't do it. You know, they were standing there. So I would bend down and whisper in her ear.

VITADAMO: Even when you did that, though, they would even crouch in closer, because they wanted to know what you were doing that close to her, you know?

The last few minutes we had with Terri we had Father Pavone in the room with us. And he had a stop watch in his hand. And it was this watch that he wore. And the police came in and they wanted to know what he had in his hand. And he showed them. And they made him give it up. And he couldn't hold it. It was an ordeal.

HANNITY: Mr. Schindler, you wanted to add one more...

R. SCHINDLER: I just want to add one more point and to be more graphic about the peaceful way Terri died. I looked in her mouth — because at the very end, she was struggling to breathe — and the inside of her mouth looked like — all I could think of was like a piece of meat in a meat market. And it was like meat that had been out for awhile.

Inside of her mouth were, like, reddish-maroon because her mouth was all dried. Her lips and everything was cracking from the lack of hydration.

And that's things that has never been reported. And it's just — this can't happen again, Sean. It cannot happen again. And if anyone who would have witnessed that in the public, they would be so appalled by it they would never let it happen again.

HANNITY: If the public had seen the pictures of the images of this...

R. SCHINDLER: If they would have been permitted to see what she actually went through, it was just ghoulish.

HANNITY: Let me ask you. This didn't end this night, because then there's a battle over cremation. There's a battle over religious rites. There's a battle over her funeral. What happened?

B. SCHINDLER: Well, we still don't know where Terri's ashes were laid. They were court-ordered. They were supposed to tell us, and we still have not heard from Michael Schiavo where Terri's been laid. You know, it wasn't — our family expected this. Michael has disobeyed court orders throughout this whole ordeal and continues to do so today.
......

HANNITY: The night that she was discovered, the paramedic decided to call police, quote, "because of Terri's age and because the situation seemed unusual." Was that ever investigated?

B. SCHINDLER: The night Terri collapsed was never investigated, no.

HANNITY: What do you think happened?

R. SCHINDLER: Well, I think there was violence involved. I think that Terri was a victim of abuse. And I think there should have been a full-scale investigation. Why it wasn't done, I'll never know. But it should have been done.

HANNITY: You found out, what, ten years after the fact that 53 weeks after she had collapsed, that she had a number of broken bones, that she had had, what, a broken femur, broken vertebrae, broken back, broken knees, broken ankles?

MARY SCHINDLER: Broken ribs.

HANNITY: Broken ribs? And it said, "compression factor presumably traumatic, the patient has a history of trauma." She never had a history of trauma?

R. SCHINDLER: No.

MARY SCHINDLER: No.

B. SCHINDLER: Not prior to her collapse. See, part of the problem we had, our family had, is because it happened so — because we found all this evidence so long after Terri collapsed, we weren't able to get a proper investigation.
......

B. SCHINDLER: Well, something caused her to collapse that night. And to this day, we still don't know what caused it.

Now, as I said, the last couple years — you know, one of the things our family has to live with the rest of our lives is that we weren't able to connect the dots back when Terri collapsed. But you know, we're connecting the dots now. And it sure appears as though something violent, as we said earlier, happened to Terri the night she collapsed.
......

HANNITY: A lot of people don't know there's only one finding of the fact, even though they keep saying there's 19 judges ruling on the case. Only one finding of the fact?

VITADAMO: That's right.
......

B. SCHINDLER: We were told by the local state attorney that, even if Michael attempted to do this to Terri that night, there was a four-year statute on attempted murder. And since there was so much time elapsed, they couldn't do anything anyway.

HANNITY: What do you think about this being politicized? Howard Dean of the Democrats said this is going to be an issue in 2006, 2008. We're going to have an ad with a picture of Tom DeLay saying, "Do you want this guy to decide whether you die or not?" And you know, the Republicans have been under attack for supporting your cause and the family.

R. SCHINDLER: No, I commend them for what they did. I think that they have integrity, moral integrity.

HANNITY: Are you angry at Governor Bush?

R. SCHINDLER: I'm disappointed at Governor Bush.

HANNITY: Who else are you angry at, the legal system?

R. SCHINDLER: My goodness, the system is just atrocious.

HANNITY: Judge Greer just got an award.

R. SCHINDLER: That's ludicrous. And I think we're committed as a family that this should never happen again. And there are enough people that are supporting us in what, you know, our plans are. And it should never happen again.
______________________________

When the pro-death advocates said that pulling Terri's feeding tube would be humane, that she wouldn't suffer, they lied.

When the pro-death Democrats said that 19 judges were involved in Terri's case, they never mention that there was only ONE finding of the fact. ONE. The nineteen judges line is a lie. It's intentionally used to deceive the public.

When George Felos said Terri looked beautiful as she was dying, he lied.

When Felos and Michael Schiavo said they were doing all they could to accommodate Terri's family and be sensitive to their wishes, they lied.

When Felos said Terri's family was allowed to spend as much time as they wanted to with her body after her death, he completely mischaracterized the scene. He didn't mention that the family was not granted a moment of privacy, that police hovered over them at all times. Felos lied.

When Felos said the family would be notified about Terri's final resting place, he lied, defying a court order in the process.

The "Right to Kill" Movement scored a victory based on lies.

The United States judicial system sanctioned the murder of a disabled woman by the barbaric, agonizingly slow method of starvation and dehydration.

Terri's brother, Bobby, said, "I think it — to tell you — they're mischaracterizing the way she died, just as they mischaracterizing Terri's condition prior to the starvation. They have to do this. This is a big lie. Because if they described what was really happening, I think, you know, the nation would be outraged with allowing this to take place."

Each time Democrats use Terri's tragedy in their campaigns, as DNC Chairman Howard Dean says they will, I hope the Schindlers and their supporters are there to counter their lies, to tell the truth.

As Terri's father said, "It cannot happen again. And if anyone who would have witnessed that in the public, they would be so appalled by it they would never let it happen again."

Sadly, it is happening again. Every day.