Fighting for Dear Life: The Untold Story of Terri Schiavo and What It Means for All of Us

by David Gibbs

Book Overview

Lead attorney for Terri Schiavo, the author explains how Terri Schiavo's death changed his life, why it should never have happened, and why value of life issues are critical for Christians to understand.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 076420243X
• ISBN13: 9780764202438
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.8" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A "must read" for all in search of truth...

It took me a week to get through the first 30 pages or so of Fighting for Dear Life by David Gibbs III, because it was that moving. Besides being a moral conservative activist, I'm also a cop and supposed to be tough yet many times I had tears in my eyes. During the year or so that Terri was in the news, I was never quite sure if the media was telling us the whole truth and apparently not only were they not presenting the whole truth, they were actively engaged in hiding it, and in many cases, telling us outright lies. How could we have fallen so far in America that despite the pleas of Congress, the Governor of the state that Terri lived and died in, the President of the United States and the overwhelming majority of the American people, that we as a nation forced an innocent young lady to be starved and in effect, tortured to death? David Gibbs' book does not have all the answers, but Mr. Gibbs lays out the whole story for you to consider. But keep in mind that once you read this book, you will never be the same. The book opens with a quote by Thomas Jefferson: "The first duty of Government is the protection of life, not its destruction. The chief purpose of government is to protect life. Abandon that and you have abandoned all." As an eyewitness to the last year of Terri's life, and as lead counsel for the Schiavo family, Mr. Gibbs had a unique view into all that was happening, legally, medically, and emotionally. And unfortunately now, historically, as Terri has passed into eternity and legacy. He points out that once we cross this boundary, where will it end? Will we kill the handicapped, the elderly or the very sick? You might say "It can't happen here!" but it happened in Nazi Germany and it's beginning to happen in the more liberal European countries. With the death of Terri Schiavo, it has begun to happen here. Will we stop it or will we allow more of the helpless to be put to death? Fighting for Dear Life offers some suggestions and also some practical advice on living wills as well. One of the more probing points throughout the book is the question of whether or not Terri was in a "persistent vegetative state" (PVS) or what doctors call "minimally conscious". Mr. Gibbs describes how Terri would react differently when various people would come into her room at the hospice, and how she'd display a "lemon face" whenever her dad, with his scratchy beard, would kiss her. He describes how Terri would squeal with delight whenever her mother would enter the room. As David Gibbs talked to Terri and walked around the room, Terri's eyes would follow him. There are many, many more such examples in the book, but does that sound like a young lady who deserved to be starved into a prolonged and torturous death? Mr. Gibbs goes on to describe how they would ask Terri to pronounce certain words and she did it. So, here we have a young lady who the media tells us is beyond recovery and yet Mr. Gibbs watched her obey verbal instructions. W

A Powerful Book!!!

This book was written from the perspective of David Gibbs, the lawyer that represented Bob and Mary Schindler (Terri's parents). Mr. Gibbs advocates strongly for the "sanctity of life", as opposed to Judge Greer's "quality of life" view. Mr. Gibbs tells the "Behind the Scene story" the media misrepresented. Mr. Gibbs offers suggestions to help stop this travesty from happening again to someone whose "quality of life" does not meet up to the standards of others.

Excellent Book

Fighting for Dear Life by David Gibbs III is an excellent book. Gibbs is an attorney who represented Terri's parents in their fight to save their daughter's life from a cruel death by dehyration/starvation. He writes about his experience with Terri Schindler-Schiavo and her family. Gibbs details his visits with Terri at the hospice. He wrote, "Here was a lady [Terri] who was brain injured and severely disabled...yet Terri recognized people, enjoyed the company of her family, and struggled to communicate. Over the course of my future visits, Terri even warmed up to me. She'd respond to my presence and appropriately jabber right back at me in her own way." Gibbs also warns readers that the term "persistant vegetative state" (PVS) is not a formal medical diagnosis. Gibbs wrote, "...the PVS diagnosis is a gut-level guess at best. One 1996 British Medical Journal study suggested that doctors misdiagnose PVS approximately 43 percent of the time." A neurologist told Gibbs that the "number of false positive vegetative diagnosis is higher in patients who are motor or visually impaired." Gibbs also asks why Terri's estranged husband, Michael Schiavo, didn't allow her family to take care of her instead of working towards ending her life. Gibbs points out that Schiavo had been living with another woman [Jodi Centonze] for 12 years and bore two children with her. Gibbs devotes a chapter in his book about people who have recovered from comas [Brooke Becker] or those who were falsely labeled as being in a persistant vegetatve state [the case of Theresa de Vera is an outstanding example]. Gibbs encourages readers to never give up hope on family members who have become severely disabled, and to have faith in God.

This Book Could Change Your Whole Perspective

Though I was down in Penellas Park for 11 days, and most of them at the protest site, the book still informed me of things I had not previously known. I periodically saw Terri's family and Gibbs, etc, but I did not know in their own words what exactly was going on. Fighting for Dear Life portrays these experiences in an easy to read as well as in an inspiring way. I believe if the majority of American's read this book, their eyes will be opened in whole new way as the media in general did much disservice in the way they reported this story. I know because the information I was receiving was not the same information that the News would portray. Every night I would watch it to measure their accuracy, and every night me and my companions jaws almost dropped in the sheer deception, and or ineptitude of the reporting. This is not to say there were not media heroes like Sean Hannity who was one of the few who really asked the right questions focusing the nation's attention to where it was needed. Unfortunately this type of journalism was few and far between. The reporting was so bad in general I truly began to wonder if indeed it was not a conspiracy, and I am not one to believe in conspiracies. In any case Fighting for Dear Life will give you a side of the story you might not had gotten. If you have a heart at all for humanitarian issues, this is the book for you.

THE story of Terri Schiavo

I have read many books on this case and I have found none as enlightening and moving as this one. Gibbs introduces the reader to Terri Schiavo and presents the facts in clear, responsible, and compassionate ways. He defines the law and how this case was handled in spite of the law at times. Gibbs has done an outstanding job of teaching how this case may and will affect all of us one day. A must read!!!