Re: Did Terry Shavio Feel Pain as she died?

James,

I would have answered no to your question before today's autopsy report on Terry Schiavo’s remains because the dying process of an individual who has stopped eating and drinking (for whatever reason) is a very peaceful one, even in healthy individuals that decide to fast to the point of death. A number of fasting protests have been documented in recent decades with careful record keeping and there has been no report of pain in the process that I am aware of. You might try looking at these sites which give some information on this topic but are not definitive and don’t address your question directly. The Belfast documentary would be worth viewing if you can get your hands on a copy. I have not seen it myself but remember very well the newscast items that were available for viewing back when this was occurring (how old I am!) and there was no indication of pain in the fasting individuals in the interviews that took place even a day or two before loss of consciousness and death:
www.mkgandhi.org/momgandhi/ chap36.htm
www.network-irl- tv.com/10000029.htm
www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020127shelton.III/020127.ch19.ht m

I have personally observed five dear friends go through this process, the most recent concurrent with Terri Schiavo’s well-publicized case. In these cases, the person could still move freely (except where there were specific joint and/or tendon limitations) and after loss of consciousness, the individual often made involuntary (and sometimes seemingly purposeful) movements, but there was no indication of pain before the loss of consciousness or afterward.

Today, Terri Schiavo’s autopsy report was made public and the pathologist indicated that the visual system was so damaged that Terri Schiavo had to have been considered to be blind at her death. The brain was reduced in mass to about half its normal size. This report lends credence to the speculation that Terri Schiavo’s death was not only painless but that she was very possibly incapable of sensing pain. Of course we will never know for sure. How then could she have followed the balloon with her eyes in that video that was played ad nauseam on television during her families squabble? The answer I found to be most satisfactory is that, by carefully observing my dying friend’s eye movements while standing at his hospital bed, I could time my hand movement across his face such that it looked like he was following my hand movements with his eyes. In fact, I was following his eye movements with my hand. I think in the case of Terri Schiavo, her loved ones wanted her to wake up and be her old self so badly that they probably really thought she was following the balloon even though stopping the balloon movement, or reversing it would have shown them to be wrong. My friend died two days after being taken off of all life support systems and I am sure he felt no pain and had no possibility of recovery. Terri Schiavo died several weeks after removal from life support but I am sure she also felt no pain and had no possibility of recovery, especially after the autopsy report.