Amelia's Story Should Make You Angry -- And a Bit Afraid
The story of little Amelia, a precious child with a mental disability who is being denied medical treatment is all too common, but it is a broader issue than precious children. I went through something similar when my father had Alzheimers.
My father, a decorated WWII and Korean veteran, was otherwise healthy as a horse, and used to sit out in the garden with me singing children's songs after many of his other memories had faded away.
When he broke his hip, it was all I could do to get him any kind of treatment. Dr. Bodner at the old Donelson hospital didn't think he deserved treatment because he "had no quality of life." Sure, my father had Alzheimer's, but does THAT define "quality of life" any more or less than mental retardation?
It took my father three months to die a slow, painful death with me begging for treatment for him. It's a slippery slope -- and this was TWENTY YEARS AGO. Imagine how far down this slope the medical community has slid in those 2 decades while we all sat quietly by and let the Terry Schiavos, mentally challenged children and adult, as well as the elderly slip away to negligence and a legal system gone terribly wrong.
Do you have someone in your family with a mental or physical handicap? Do you think as you age you may lose some of your faculties? Because this could be your future should you or your loved ones become less than perfect and require medical care.
Read Amelia's story HERE
Read my father's story at:
William A. Darden - My Father Remembered
My father, a decorated WWII and Korean veteran, was otherwise healthy as a horse, and used to sit out in the garden with me singing children's songs after many of his other memories had faded away.
When he broke his hip, it was all I could do to get him any kind of treatment. Dr. Bodner at the old Donelson hospital didn't think he deserved treatment because he "had no quality of life." Sure, my father had Alzheimer's, but does THAT define "quality of life" any more or less than mental retardation?
It took my father three months to die a slow, painful death with me begging for treatment for him. It's a slippery slope -- and this was TWENTY YEARS AGO. Imagine how far down this slope the medical community has slid in those 2 decades while we all sat quietly by and let the Terry Schiavos, mentally challenged children and adult, as well as the elderly slip away to negligence and a legal system gone terribly wrong.
Do you have someone in your family with a mental or physical handicap? Do you think as you age you may lose some of your faculties? Because this could be your future should you or your loved ones become less than perfect and require medical care.
Read Amelia's story HERE
Read my father's story at:
William A. Darden - My Father Remembered
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