Could Gary have survived, like Bret?
Shannon Price
After the death of Gary Coleman, his parents Sue and Willie Coleman said that they kept up with their estranged son’s life through headlines. In an interview, they said they were not at his bedside when he died on May 28, 2010, and they were not given any information about what caused him to suffer the intracranial hemorrhage which led to his hospitalization.
A spokeswoman for Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, declined to give any details citing the wishes of Gary’s wife, Shannon Price, 24, (photo above) and her family. The spokeswoman would only say that an “accident” occurred in the actor’s Santaquin, Utah, home on Wednesday evening, and that Coleman had suffered an intracranial hemorrhage.
“We’re not pointing fingers at anyone, but we need to know exactly what happened” Coleman’s mother said in the interview. “We’re not angry. We’re just concerned. Did our son fall down the stairs? Did he fall in the bathtub? We need to have some closure on our son’s life.” Coleman’s parents said that they tried to contact the Price family by calling Santaquin police, but instead of returning the call, Price pulled the plug and took Gary off of life support on the very same day – only 24 hours after he was admitted to the hospital.
Maybe someone told Price about the Terri Schiavo case which played out in Florida from 1990 to 2005. Terri had a cardiac arrest in 1990 when she was 27 years old. She lived in a persistent vegetative state, nourished and hydrated through tubes from 199o to 2005 – the year she died. Terri did not have a living will or a health care proxy. So no one knew for sure whether or not Terri would have wanted her life prolonged by artificial means.
In May, 1998, Terry’s husband, Michael Schiavo, filed a petition to remove Terri’s feeding tube, which her parents opposed. The case was heard in Florida’s courts more than 20 times. Terry’s husband fought to have Terri’s feeding tubes removed because he said Terry wouldn’t want to prolong her life by artificial means. Terry’s parents fought to keep Terry alive by keeping her feeding tubes inserted. Michael won, and Terri’s feeding tube was removed finally on March 18, 2005. She died 13 days later.
By pulling the plug on Gary, Price effectively eliminated the chances of any intervention or involvement by Gary’s parents. Maybe that’s how Gary would have wanted it. After all, there was no love lost between Gary and his parents. In 1989, Coleman sued his parents and business manager alleging that they stole his multimillion-dollar fortune. Apparently Gary and his parents were never able to resume their relationship after that.
So, Gary’s wife was all he had. She was the one who decided whether Gary should live or die – and the exact time of his death. Did she have his best interest at heart? Did she pull the plug because she knew that’s what he would want, or did she pull the plug for other reasons?
No one should have that much power – unless you want them to. Here’s what the law provides in most states. If you become incapacitated, your next of kin will have to make the decision. If you are married, your next of kin is your spouse, then children. If you are not married, your next of kin is your parent, then siblings, etc. (as provided by state law). However, if you do not want your next of kin to have that power, you can give the power to another person by way of health care directives known as a living will or a health care proxy.
With a living will, you give instructions to health care providers concerning what your wishes are in the event of your incapacitation. In a living will, you could state whether you would like to be kept alive by artificial means and for how long.
A health care proxy allows you choose someone you trust – for example, a family member or close friend – to make health care decisions for you if you lose the ability to make decisions yourself. Your health care agent should know your wishes about being kept alive by artificial means so that if you became incapacitated, he/she would be able to make that decision for you .
We don’t know what happened in Gary’s case. Why did his wife decide to pull the plug on Gary when she did? Bret Michaels was able to survive a massive brain hemorrhage. Perhaps if given a chance, Gary would have survived too.
If you would like to have a Living Will or Health Care proxy, please go to my website at: www.w-phillips.com for my contact information.
Related post:
Soooo… did Coleman and Price have the necessary documents that legally allowed her to pull the plug? This article neglects to mention that very important piece of information. It is also important to note that no two brain injuries are EVER exactly alike. Coleman and Michaels had similar injuries but they were in different locations of the brain and each has (had) very different health issues which would affect the outcome.
Regardless, if you don’t trust someone to properly take care of your life, why would you marry them in the first place?
1they were divorced for 2 years at the time of his death…
2Yes. Their divorce became public after I wrote the post.
3Great article to put things in perspective about dying and our wishes after death. I felt then that the Fla courts made the right decision, and as for Gary’s parents, well, too bad–state law trumps their anger and displeasure in the absence of a will or health care proxy. I already have a health care proxy– I refuse to let others decide what to do with my body if I become incompetent to make my own decisions.
4Thanks. Single parents, divorced parents, people with blended families (step-kids), just to name a few, should all recognize how important it is to have a Last Will and Testament and a Living Will.
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