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Terri Schiavo

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The Resume

    (December 3, 1963-March 31, 2005)
    Maiden name was Theresa Marie Schindler
    Permanently brain-damaged woman in center of controversy between her husband and parents over the right to remove the feeding tube keeping her alive
    Had been in a coma-like state since 1990

Why she might be annoying:

    She had no clue what's going on.
    Because of her, there has been a bitter divide not just between her husband and her parents, but between the right-to-die/right-to-life butt-in-skies that feel this is their business and they're going to voice their opinions to whomever will give them air time.
    She did not make out a living will and wasn't able to speak for herself, so her wishes are the subject of conjecture and hostility.
    Her husband claimed she would not want to live in a permanent, vegetative state and should be allowed to die with dignity, while her parents insist she would have wanted to live and could have been helped with therapy.
    Circuit courts, federal courts, the Florida Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court have all had their say in this painful family feud.
    In 2003, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush helped pass 'Terri's Law' to keep her alive, and a year later it was struck down by the courts as unconstitutional.
    President George W. Bush, Pope John Paul II and Mel Gibson all expressed their desire to keep her alive.
    She may have had an eating disorder, resulting in her collapse.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She performed mouth-to-nose resuscitation on her dog when he collapsed, but he died in her arms.
    Doctors believe her heart temporarily stopped due to a potassium imbalance, cutting off oxygen to her brain (February 25, 1990).
    She was able to breathe on her own, but needed a feeding and hydration tube to live.
    Courts officially declared her to be in a 'persistent vegetative state.'
    A malpractice suit was filed on her behalf and she and her husband won more than $1 million (1992). However, a year later, her parents had a falling out with her husband over how the money was being used.
    Years after her collapse, her husband met another woman and has a daughter with this other woman while still legally married to Terri.
    He insists he acted in what her wishes would have been if she could speak out, and he refused huge amounts of money to drop the case.
    Her parents wanted him to divorce her so they could have regained the right to act on her behalf, but he he refused.
    She has had her feeding tube taken out and reinserted three. The first time it was for two days (April 24-26, 2001), the second time for six days (October 15-21, 2003). The 2nd reinsertion was when 'Terri's Law' was born. The third time (March 18, 2005) she ended up dying nearly two weeks later.
    If she continued to live, she would never have been the 'passionate, full-of-life' person she was before her collapse.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 20 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 30 Votes: 26.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 71 Votes: 42.25% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 91 Votes: 54.95% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 53 Votes: 50.94% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 16 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 110 Votes: 58.18% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 1883 Votes: 65.37% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 72 Votes: 68.06% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 29 Votes: 72.41% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 87 Votes: 52.87% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 70 Votes: 48.57% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 121 Votes: 35.54% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 111 Votes: 36.04% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 158 Votes: 44.94% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 458 Votes: 42.36% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 1979 Votes: 46.99% Annoying