The Terri Schiavo Story

The Terry Schiavo Story is a new documentary film from Franklin Springs Family Media. Hosted by Joni Eareckson Tada, it aims to take a deeper look at the events surrounding the life and death of Terri Schiavo.

I enjoyed this film primarily because I learned some things I didn't know prior to watching. First, the way in which Terri was injured. Secondly, the fact that Terri's family took care of her outside of a medical care facility for some time after the injury. Third, that Terri had been showing improvement for some time before being denied therapy. Finally, the film showed clips of Terri and delved into her life before her injury.

The production quality is excellent. With so much cheap Christian material out there, it's refreshing to see something well-produced.

The film was only 50 minutes long. I wish it had gone into even more details. For example, the various judges and legal precedents along the way. I got a surface-level understanding that the facts involved in the original judge's ruling to deny Terri therapy and treatment could not be reviewed, but I would have liked to know exactly why.

The film shows quite convincingly through video clips of Terri that she wasn't anywhere near brain dead. PVS, or the "persistent vegetative state" we heard so much about apparently entails someone who smiles, laughs and communicates, as Terri did.

The state of Florida denied food and water to Terri Schiavo after much legal wrangling. A disabled patient was starved and dehydrated, all while her family looked on helplessly. The family, you see, was not allowed to care for Terri, even though they wanted to do so. Terri's husband, who was living with another woman at the time, claimed that Terri "didn't want to live this way." Mr. Schiavo never produced any evidence supporting his claim, and only made it after a jury awarded millions of dollars for Terri's treatment, the same treatment that Mr. Schiavo and his lawyer fought so hard to deny Terri. Before the award, Michael Schiavo worked with Terri's family to treat her.

Does this smell fishy to anybody else?

Thanks to Scott Eash at Franklin Springs Family Media for the opportunity to screen this DVD. I loved what was there, and I hoped for more. Anyone who felt obliged to pontificate on the Schiavo matter while it was happening (you know who you are) should watch this.