The story of Terri Schiavo involved us emotionally and spiritually in many ways. This is a story of a woman who, at a tender age of 26, became disabled. Out of the blue she became dependent on others for care. It is a sad story of suffering. We know about Terri because her story was largely covered by the world's media. But unfortunately this is not a one-off incident. There are and will continue to be others who are as unfortunate as her.

As Eric Saliba wrote (April 18) "she is out of her misery" but not because she died, as he put it, but because she is not in the middle of a family dispute anymore. In the end, she turned out to be like a puppet on a string, being pulled by her husband on one side and her parents on the other. I could not see a loving husband who wanted the best for his wife. I saw a man who started another family with another woman on one side and family members on the other who wanted to take care of their daughter but fought with her husband for cash.

It was ridiculous to read about visit arrangements in the hospice where she was put... who should visit and at what time.

I am sure that that was not what Ms Schiavo would have wanted. I do not want to pass judgment. That is not up to me, thankfully. Ultimately it was a delicate situation. It all seemed to boil down to one thing - money. Poor Ms Schiavo was in the middle of this turmoil. I just felt for her.

Mr Saliba also wrote that "whereas in Europe there is a growing support for legal changes that would allow patients enduring extreme suffering from a terminal illness to ask for medical assistance to end their lives, in the US the Schiavo case was taken over by religion and faith-based politics".

Maybe this is true but does that mean that we should discard religion and use it in favour of the satisfaction of our whims or conveniences? Just think about it.

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