Texas Mom Fights Hospital Death Sentence to Save Son's Life

MEDIA ADVISORY, April 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- Once again a fragile
and
infinitely precious innocent life hangs in the balance, as a mother is
pitted against the medical establishment in a battle for the life of
her
little boy.

Catarina Gonzales, 23 and single, is fighting to save the life of her
son,
Emilio, who is 17 months old and requires vitamin and respiratory
therapy
with a ventilator to sustain his life.  Although his diagnosis is still
not definitive, his doctors believe he has Leigh's disease, a condition
that is life-threatening.

The ethics committee at the facility currently treating Emilio has
declared Emilio's case "futile," a decision which marks Emilio for
death
unless another hospital will agree to take him on transfer.  The
deadline
by which to find another facility is Tuesday, April 10th.

Texas law allows hospitals to deny patients any and all forms of
life-sustaining treatment against their wishes, or in the case of
children, against the wishes of their parents or legal guardians--after
providing the patient and/or family ten days notice.  Withdrawal
includes
food and water via a feeding tube, antibiotics, ventilators and other
forms of life-saving intervention.   If a transfer cannot be found by
April 10, the hospital will remove Emilio's ventilator, an action which
will very likely result in his death.

"This is so sad," says Suzanne Vitadamo, sister of Terri Schindler
Schiavo. "That a hospital 'ethics' committee would vote to end the life
of
a child against his mother's wishes is unbelievable, especially since
Emilio's condition has actually shown some improvement over the past
several weeks."

Vitadamo spoke recently with a mother from Madison, Wisconsin, whose
seven-year-old daughter has a mitochondrial disease similar to the one
Emilio is suspected of having.  "This little girl was diagnosed as
being
in a so-called persistent vegetative state for the first three years of
her life," Vitadamo says.  "Her mother researched the disease and
learned
that hyperbaric oxygen treatment had shown some success in treating the
condition.  Today the once fragile little girl now attends school,
against
all odds and much to the amazement of doctors who said she would not
even
live past the age of three."

Although there is no guarantee that similar treatment would produce
such
results in Emilio's case, there is hope.  "We are hoping that the
hospital
will grant an additional extension in Emilio's case," Vitadamo says,
"we
encourage them to continue treating this little boy, making every
effort
to sustain his life for as long as is needed, while we pursue a
facility
for transfer and possibly even treatment that could save him.  It is
time
for Texas hospitals to start erring on the side of LIFE."

About the Schindler Family: Mary and Robert Schindler as well as
Suzanne
Schindler Vitadamo and Bobby Schindler now work for The Terri Schindler
Schiavo Foundation in St. Petersburg, Florida, an organization
dedicated
to promoting the Culture of Life, embracing the true meaning of
compassion
by opposing the practice of euthanasia.


This press release is available online at
http://www.terrisfight.org/news.php?id=281