RSSInjured Man Awakens From Life Support After Wife Went To Court To “Pull the Plug”
My guess, this is not going to be the happiest homecoming.
Jesse Ramirez was in a horrible car accident. His wife, whom he had been having marital issues with, goes to court to get him disconnected from life support. She succeeds over objections from his family. But then a miracle happens, the husband comes back to consciousness.
I bet dinner at their house is going to be awkward. Oh, and Ramirez’s care is now going to be provided by an independent guardian. Thank God.
Jesse Ramirez Jr.’s awakening, which friends called “a miracle,” occurred after his sister, parents and other relatives went to court and obtained an emergency order for feeding and hydration tubes to be reinserted, reversing a directive given by his wife, Rebecca Ramirez.
Judge Paul Katz announced the news Tuesday during a Maricopa County Superior Court hearing. Relatives had been in a three-week battle over the 36-year-old postal worker’s fate, and who should control it. Ramirez suffered brain injuries in a May 30 automobile accident. He regained consciousness on Sunday.
“He is awake,” confirmed Judith Morse, an attorney appointed by Katz to investigate legal, ethical and medical issues. “He is able to respond to verbal commands. He is aware of who he is and who his family members are.” No further information about Ramirez’s condition was available.
Morse also announced that Rebecca Ramirez and her in-laws had reached a settlement in the dispute over Ramirez’s care. An independent guardian will be appointed to make medical decisions. via USATODAY.com.
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23 Responses to “Injured Man Awakens From Life Support After Wife Went To Court To “Pull the Plug””
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hmm–maybe she should start a support group with Michael Schiavo. Thank goodness Jesse regained consciousness before his life support was disconnected. When will the courts realize in that in certain instances, that a loving family trumps a disgruntled spouse?
Hi honey,by the way the way,you are out of my will
#1, that was a nonsensical remark. the two cases are not even related.
Critical thought is evidently not a requirement for you.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/0627lifesupport0627.html
Above is link to more information about this case from the Arizona Republic. The real culprit here is the medical establishment who advised Rebecca to withdraw life support much too soon.
It’s true that this case is not related directly to that of Terri Schiavo. However, some of the issues are similar.
In the Schiavo case, a number of physicians signed a petition saying that there were reasonable grounds to think that she might return to full consciousness. The judge in the case refused to allow that petition to be introduced.
Anyway, the whole moral issue of life support and when, if ever, it is proper to withdraw it (and who should make the decision) is something that will not go away. My idea is that in Terri’s case, since nobody was in a position to know what she wanted, she should have been kept alive.
Perhaps I’m wrong … but for this man, the “miracle” did occur.
It’s interesting that in this case, the family did succeed in getting an emergency order reversing the wife’s decision.
One wonders what provisions, if any, were in this guy’s will. Too bad, perhaps, for Terri Schiavo that the judge there refused to consider this option.
Nothing more than liberal laws allowing the extinguishing of “unwanted” life. we are pleased to murder our children in the womb, lift up murderers like Kevorkian (sp?), allow a spouse who NO LONGER LOVES the other to decide on the fate of his/her existance when the immediate family loves and wants to care for the person? How much more cold and callused must our hearts and souls get?
My first ancestor came here in 1775 because he wanted to side against his own country and fight with the “new land’s” people. Yes, most of the women on my dad’s side are in Daughters of the American Revolution. I hate to think my family was part of the pioneering spirit that started this country, and here I am less than 300 yrs. later watching it destroyed before my eyes.
People had better wake up or Hillary WILL be in office, 20 million + persons in country illegally WILL become “residents” AND (how many knew this???) will be allowed to import up to 10 of their family within 7 years??? THEN, Ms. Hillary will start national health care, totally destroy the private health care system. You will be TOLD if you are getting treatment or not because…as the original topic was…you MAY or MAY NOT be worthy to keep alive, and with socialized medicine it won’t be your spouse or family making the decision, it will be the government and, uh…good luck then.
Brenda
AZLady is right. It’s best to let family members and spouses know what your wishes are, but there should also be input from the medical community. With Terri Shiavo there was, with poor Mr. Ramirez it seems as tho there was not. MRIs and CT scans should be taken and analyzed. There should be set, known steps before the plug is pulled and a set time period before action is taken.
AZLady,
No where is that article did it state that Hospital advise Rebecca to disconnect the life support. The man from the Terri Schiavo foundation was speaking about the medical establishment in general.
The wife seem to want him dead quick…after all he wasn’t on life support long. Just think if he didn’t have a loving family…she would have killed him for sure.
I will never agree that withholding food and water is acceptable for any comatose person. There is a difference imo between food and water, and machines that keep you breathing or your heart beating. No, I wouldn’t want to be kept alive by machines, but I darn sure don’t want to be starved to death. Unless a comatose person has specifically signed a directive saying they want food and water withheld, I don’t think it should ever be done.
Thanks 5. #3-it’s an allegory, look it up. It’s about love, faith, devotion and not giving up. It’s about life trumping a desire to the contrary.
glad to see we are all in agreement over this one.
brenda
Mike,
Our local Arizona news has reported this case since the day the accident occurred. I was referring to previous articles I had read that stated that doctors advised the guy’s wife that if he lived he would be severely brain-damaged and a vegetable. The doctors advised her to remove life support. She concurred and his family took it to court to keep on life support.
AZLady
AZLady,
Then I would suggest that you or anyone else there not use these doctors. They screwed up bigtime….wonder how many others they disconnected and died that may have lived if given a chance to recover.
Fact is the accident happened less then 30 days ago…I wonder if they did proper cat scans and other tests, get second and third opinions. The judge obviously didn’t like something that the doctors or his soon to be exwife did.
Have any of you ever been on life support? Have any of you been in a coma? Well, unfortunately, I have. For 14 days, I was in a coma, due to West Nile Virus. For 3 days, my husband had no idea if I had any brain activity. It took several days before my problem was diagnosed. I had an EEG and the doc told my husband that my brain activity was as normal as it could be for someone on life support in a coma. It was several months after I got home(hospitalized 4 months) and I said to him one day that he better not have left me linger like Terry if no brain activity showed up. He promised me that he’d never let that happen to me. He stayed at my bedside a whole month after I slipped into the coma. I think it had to be harder on him than it was for me. I had no idea what was going on. I don’t mean to make anyone angry by my first 2 lines, but I have been at deaths door. I would never want to be what Terry was – and my Huny knows that. Please don’t rag on this lady too bad – consider what the doctors told her. The doctors at Nellis AFB Hospital were the best and they saved my life. Seeing a loved one on total life support is not something anyone should have to experience.
Joanie, I’m sure we’re all glad that you’re still with us!
I think the crux of the issue may be … in the absence of instructions from the person involved, who should make the decision? And which way should it go?
I’d say to opt for life whenever possible….
Joanie,
The accident was on May 30th….she was trying to stop his feeding on June 8th…alittle over a week…don’t you think that was aweful quick?
The Judge seen something wrong here…Jesse can thank him for his life…not his wife or his doctors. Someone screwed up bigtime on this case. Not all cases are the same.
Glad that you may a full recovery
Joanie … I feel that I owe you an apology for what, in retrospect, sounds like a flippant remark (see my post #16).
The first sentence of what I posted sounds awfully flippant, if not totally stupid, and I feel mortified at having put it there.
Richard! I take no offence! I read it as a statement and took it that way. Do not feel badly in any way. As for myself; I look at the quality of my life. Had I not been able to se, hear and touch my beloved husband, then I have not much of a reason to stick around!
Mike; Do I think it was quick? Well, I’d like to know if he had an EEG like I did. And, YES, I do think it was quick. I apologize if that was stated in the article and I missed it. I suffer from some short term memory loss from my illness. Its hard to know what we would do in this situation, but I have things written down now. And THANK ALL OF YOU for the kind comments. I quite enjoy this forum, even if I don’t participate everyday!
I see that Joanie has spoken to her husband, but please get this in a document with a lawyer! I was living in Tampa, FL during the Terri Schiavo case.
SO sad. Her disgusting husband only wanted her dead for the insurance money. The parents would visit her regularly, but he did not and then got a court order keeping them from visiting her after he pulled out the food/water. Talk about a soul-less man!
Keep in mind Michael Schiavo had other girlfriends living with him after ONLY 6 months into Terri’s state. The 1st did not believe his wife was “disabled”, so he took her to the hospital and said “there she is…see? nothing there”. THIS IS WHAT HER WITNESS STATEMENT WAS ON THE STAND when the parents tried in vain to save Terri. Can we say “monster”?
MANY of the people who saw Terri come into the emergency room that fateful day stated she had “bruises on her neck and back”. That is not consistant with Michael’s statement that he “founding her face-down on the floor”. We know from Terri’s sister he was abusive. Let’s put 2 and 2 together. Also, he had the right in Florida to block anyone seeing her medical records and did so asap. Even her parents were not allowed medical information on their daughter.
If we don’t have our wishes in writing, it won’t be good in such a horrible situation. Something we all should consider.
Brenda
Brenda; we had touched on the subject of this long before I got sick. Bruce knew what I wanted in the event I ended up on life support with no brain activity. I still feel the same since I have been in that situation. Its good to have it in print on paper for sure. And if any of you are wondering if I experienced anything unusual while I was ‘out’, the answer is no, sort of!!! I have had so many people ask me if I had an out of body experience or anything(insert TWILIGHT ZONE music here) My husband talked to me everyday; told me stories, jokes and poetry. Every now and then, when we talk about something and I feel I have heard this story before, he tells me that its the same story he told me while I was comatose. THAT gave me goosebumps! PLEASE; talk about this. It is truely important.
Here is the story behind the Ramirez case, courtesy of Jesse’s attorneys:
http://www.constitutionallycorrect.com/archive/2007/06/29/497.aspx
Why in the world did the doctors at the hospital not give that man an EEG?! This was the only way my husband knew I had brain activity. I was in a coma longer than this guy was. Had a feeding tube too- not fun. This is still very fishy – on the part of the doctors, the first hospital and this wife. Scary, ain’t it.