Jahi McMath: Terri Schiavo group secretly leading transfer efforts

[Rozlee]

16. People, this could be YOU, if you don't sign Advance Directives and a Living Will.

Granted, this child wasn't of age and her family have control of her body against any wishes she may have had, but everyone should be prepared for this contingency. Terry Schiavo never made advance directives and look how that turned out. As a nurse, I saw family members who kept their parents or spouses alive just to keep collecting their benefits. I remember one patient who had been on a ventilator for ten years while his wife had moved on with another man and rarely bothered to visit him. But, she wanted to keep collecting his benefits checks and didn't want him dead. Whenever he had a crisis like pneumonia or some other complication, she'd swoop on us like a fury and demand that everything be done to save him. Sometimes, people don't want to let go because of love. Sometimes, because of avarice. Whatever the reason, the decision shouldn't be theirs.