Fight to save Gary Harvey of New York!
Tag Archives: guardianship dispute
Sara! Sara, come back! Don’t leave me here.
Tragically, Gary Harvey of Horsehead, NY fell down the basement stairs in January of 2006 and received a traumatic head injury. Since that time, he has either been in a nursing home or in the hospital and is under the guardianship of the county. Ironically, the county, who claims to be looking out for their ward’s best interest, was involved in a so-called ethics committee decision that Gary Harvey should be starved and dehydrated to death. The judge over-ruled the call for execution of an innocent man, though a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) remains in effect. Sara Harvey, Gary’s wife, is desperately fighting to get him home. One can only wonder how much he knows of what is going on around him. The following could be what he is thinking as he lays alone in that room, so isolated from the world he knew and the wife and friends he so loves. * * *
It’s so quiet. I think I hear someone walking down the hall. Do they know I am here? Where is my Sara? Why isn’t she here? I miss her voice and the special sound of her laughter. I miss her gentle touch. The gentle and tender touch that tells me she loves me and that everything is going to be okay. Why can’t I feel that now? Where is she? Why doesn’t she come to see me? Is she tired of me? Am I too big a burden? Is there someone else in her life now? How long have I been here? How many days have passed?
I’m sure of it. I hear someone walking down the hall. Are they coming to see me? Is it Sara? Why do they keep walking by? Don’t they know I’m here? Why doesn’t someone open the door and just say, “hi” and tell me that it is okay? Can’t someone tell me when my Sara will be here? When will she come to see me? I wonder if they would call her, if I ask?
I hear someone again. I hear them walking away. I want to call out. I’m trying to call out. Why can’t I? Why is there only silence? Am I dead?
No, I can’t be. If I were dead, I wouldn’t be able to hear them. I wouldn’t be able to hear their footsteps and the rattling of carts. I wouldn’t be able to hear their laughter and sometimes their whispers. So, why can’t they hear me? Why can’t I hear me? Why are there no sounds beyond the thoughts that ramble and torment? Sara! Sara, why aren’t you here? I need to talk with you. I need to know everything is okay and you still love me. Did I do something wrong? Did I make you hate me so much that you have left me here alone with them? Left me wherever this is? Left me alone to hear the echo of their footsteps and the isolation of such aloneness as I never knew was possible?
Sara, it’s cold here. It’s dark and there is no laughter to touch the moment. There is no you to say we are going home soon and that you love me still. You do love me, don’t you? We will be going home, won’t we? Is that you, Sara? Is that you that I hear walking down the hall? Is that you coming to take me home or to tell me when you shall?
Why are they whispering? Why are they saying I’m gone? I’m not gone. I’m here waiting for you. Sara! Sara, come back! Don’t leave me here. Don’t leave me in this darkness without you. I love you! I’ll always love you! I promise, I will be a better husband, if I wasn’t a good one before. Please, Sara, please don’t leave me here with them. I’m scared. I think they want me to die!
First published on Dakota Voice on August 18th, 2011
Bobby Schindler Files Petition Requesting to be Gary Harvey’s Guardian
Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo, has filed a petition in the New York Supreme Court – Chemung County asking guardianship of Gary Harvey be turned over to him. How can the County refuse to resign or disagree with the petition? How could they dare say this guardianship transfer would not be in the best interest of Gary Harvey? Legitimately, they can’t.
Should the County fight Bobby Schindler’s effort, then the County (and those involved in the case on their side), shall have been proven to have lied to the court and the community. The County claimed it did not want to be Gary’s guardian, but there was no one else. Now there is. So, if they fight to retain guardianship, that means there is an ulterior motive for doing so. After all, just why would they fight so desperately to retain a ward they didn’t want in the first place or thereafter; have warehoused; and, seem to think is bothersome and time consuming in the isolation and hide the information (from his wife) health care plan they have prepared for him?
Bobby Schindler has an impeccable reputation. He is knowledgeable about TBI (traumatic brain injury). He has first-hand experience in dealing with a family member suffering from TBI. He is compassionate and caring. He is hopeful and realistic. Just what part of all that he is, could the County honestly say is not good enough to be guardian of Gary Harvey? Can we say – none?
Time will tell us what the County will do. Let’s hope they choose the honorable path and agree it is in the best interest of Gary Harvey to appoint Bobby Schindler his guardian. It is, after all, the right thing to do!
BREAKING NEWS! Terri Schiavo’s Brother Petitions Court to Intervene in Guardianship Case
Contact: Mary Foley, Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, 484-278-4287, mfoley@lifeandhope.com
Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 27 / — Attorney Christopher Johnson has filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York, asking the court to allow Mr. Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo to serve as Guardian for Mr. Gary Harvey.
In 2006, Mr. Harvey, a Chemung County resident, was involved in a home accident, which left him with a profound brain injury. His spouse, Mrs. Sara Harvey, sought guardianship only to be denied by the Chemung County Supreme Court who ultimately appointed the Chemung County Department of Social Services as Mr. Harvey’s guardian. Since that time, Mrs. Harvey has been in a prolonged court battle with Chemung County officials and the New York State Court System.
Indeed, it was in May of 2009 when the ethics committee from the hospital where Mr. Harvey was residing recommended the removal of his nutrition and hydration tube, and also issued a “do-not-resuscitate order” (DNR).
Fortunately, the court denied that request. However, inexplicably, the DNR stayed in place and Mr. Harvey remains under the control of Chemung County, despite the fact that the county tried to end his life.
“I have raised the question many times, ‘How can Chemung County, Guardian of Mr. Harvey, be acting in his best interest when they, in fact, tried to kill him?’ From all indications, it appears that Mr. Harvey has been warehoused and denied the opportunity to receive the care and rehabilitative services that would benefit his condition,” stated Bobby Schindler.
It is the hope that with this filing, the court will recognize that Mr. Harvey deserves the chance to receive aggressive therapy and rehabilitation. Certainly from Mr. Schindler’s experience with brain injured persons, he would afford Mr. Harvey the help he needs in the hopes to significantly improve his quality of life.
Bobby Schindler is the brother of Terri Schiavo and is the Executive Director of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, established in 2005 to protect the rights of the medically vulnerable. For more information, please visit www.lifeandhope.com