Posted by
trespassers william on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 1:15:37 AM
I came across this article on the A.O.L. news page;
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/polish-man-awakens-from-19-year-coma/20070603145909990001http://video.aol.com/video/modern-life-discovered/1919434 I am not sure if any other news agencies carried this story or not. Kudos to A.O.L., Reuters and any other agency that does/will.
I must admit that the first thing that came to my mind as I began to read was theTerry Schiavo case and the stark contrast between this woman and Michael Schiavo;
"RemarriageOn
January 23, 2006, Schiavo
married his long-term fiancée, Jodi Centonze, whom he met in a dentist's office in 1995. They have two children, both born prior to their marriage and prior to Terri's death: the first was born in the fall of 2002, and the second was born in the spring of 2004."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_SchiavoNow in all fairness I must admit that I did not know a whole lot about the whole Schiavo scenario until it hit the news and I still don't know a great deal. Also, in all fairness I gather that Michael Schiavo did attempt some type of rehabilitation of his wife;
"On June 18, 1990, Schiavo was appointed as his wife's guardian. He and the Schindlers managed her care and organized a fundraiser so that Terri could be flown to California for experimental treatment. The couple returned to Florida and Michael placed Terri in a rehabilitation facility. He later received a nursing degree."
However, one cannot deny that there is a marked contrast between this woman in Poland and Michael Schiavo when it comes to vows made, "till death do us part", as well as fidelity to one's spouse (see above quote concerning January 23, 2006). Furthermore, this woman in Poland seems to have a better understanding of what "in sickness and in health" was all about;
Gertruda Grezbska-
"Gertruda Grzebska, 63, said that for years she fed her husband Jan carefully with a spoon and moved his body to prevent bed sores. "
For 19 years he did not move or say anything," Grzebska told The Associated Press by phone. "He tried to say things but it couldn't be understood. Sometimes we pretended we understood."
Michael Schiavo-
"In July 1993, Schiavo placed a standard "do-not-resuscitate" order on Terri's medical chart.
In 1993, Schiavo ordered Dr. Patrick Mulroy not to give Terri antibiotics for a urinary tract infection, which if left untreated could have been fatal. In testimony at a guardianship hearing, Schiavo said that Sabel Palms Health Care Center refused to follow this order because the Center felt it was against the law."
Now I will not pretend to be a medical doctor nor to understand all the in's and out's of these two different situations. I am sure there are a multitude of differences, still one has to admit that there is something commendable about Gertruda Grebzska's actions and that there is a world of difference between Gertruda Grezbska's 19 years and Michael Schiavo's 3 years (not to mention his meeting his present wife only 5 years after the initial incident). So I have to ask myself this, "If I were in a coma and things did not look so good what kind of person would I want to be my spouse, Gertruda Grebzska or Michael Schiavo?"