piasharn | Terri Schiavo Autopsy

I'm not going to make this an in-depth post. Rather, I'm going to highlight some of the parts that I feel are more important.

- About 50% of her brain had died.
- She was blind, as the vision center was one of the dead portions. (This means that the video of her watching a balloon was nothing more than a fluke.)
- She was in a persistent, vegetative state.
- The damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy and/or treatment could have revived her.
- No evidence of abuse was found.
- The cause of the initial heart attack which triggered the brain damage is still unknown.
- The cause of death was dehydration. (See, I told you that she wouldn't starve.)

Sadly, Mr. and Mrs. Schiavo are still in denial. Even after the autopsy report, they seem to think that their daughter could have recovered. They also contend the claim that she was blind. But... if the visual center of the brain is dead, how in the world is the brain supposed to interpret the information that comes in via the optical nerves? Just because your eyes are working doesn't mean you can see.

I hope that they manage to come to peace with the situation, and their son-in-law, at some point in the future. I understand that the sorrow over her illness and death will never fully leave. However, she is at peace, and there is nothing anyone can do to change the past. Hanging onto denial and anger will not make their lives any easier.

"People should understand that sometimes, for known or unknown reasons, individuals sustain massive brain injury that for which healing is not possible," said Dr. Karen Weidenheim, the chief of neuropathology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. "Everything that could have been done was done for this lady for 15 years, and this case is very tragic."

(article)