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Terri Schindler Schiavo and the Cardiac Arrest/Heart Attack Lies

Dr. William Hammesfahr, a world-reknowned neurologist wrote a complete report regarding Terri Schindler Schiavo dated September 12, 2002. The report reveals that medical tests conducted after Terri's collapse did not show evidence of a heart attack:

In the Emergency Room, a possible diagnosis of heart attack was briefly entertained, but then dismissed after blood chemistries and serial EKG's did not show evidence of a heart attack.

(Quote source: Complete Report of Dr. William Hammesfahr)

Two months after this report was written, Schindler family attorney Pat Anderson still did not refute the widespread myths that Terri had a heart attack and/or suffered cardiac arrest. Pat Anderson said:

"I've never been satisfied with any explanation of her collapse," Anderson told WND. "It has all been loosey-goosey. The theory was that she was bulimic (because her potassium level was low) and that caused cardiac arrhythmia, which led to the cardiac arrest" she continued.

(Quote source: Nov. 14, 2002 Emergency Motion in right-to-die Case

This would have been an opportune time for Pat Anderson to cite Dr. Hammesfahr's September 12, 2002 report and dispel the "loosey-goosy" theories promoted by the right-to-kill-Terri proponents, but she did not. Instead, she repeated Michael Schiavo's "theories," which are really serving as his alibis. [I am searching for media articles where Pat is quoted refuting the heart attack and cardiac arrest lies. If I find them, I will post them here.]

Pamela Hennessy, the official media representative and spokeswoman for the Schindler family, is not only not refuting the cardiac arrest myth, she is promoting it:

Terri Schiavo was 26 years of age when she collapsed in the home she shared with her husband, Michael Schiavo. The precise cause of her collapse is still not known though she did suffer a cardiac arrest. (Oct. 4, 2003 The Means to an End)

Pamela is also promoting the heart attack lie via Glenn Beck. Read more about this in the subheading below called "Terrisfight.org's Media Darling Promotes the Stopped Heart Myth!"

Cardiac Arrest/Heart Attack Ruled Out

An October 26, 2003 edition of World Net Daily revealed that Dr. Michael Baden debunked the official version of early events in Terri's case. Terri did not have a heart attack:

Interviewed on the Fox News Channel, Dr. Michael Baden, co-director of the Investigative Unit of New York State Police in Albany and former chief medical examiner for New York City, ruled out potassium imbalance and a heart attack as factors in Terri's mysterious collapse 13 years ago – which left her severely incapacitated and unable to speak – and pointed to head trauma and bone injuries as a more likely cause.

(Quote source: Questions Raised About Terri's Collapse)

Dr. William Hammesfahr stated in a January 7, 2004 Highway2Health interview with Ron Panzer that Terri did not have a cardiac arrest or heart attack: 

Dr. Hammesfahr revealed that not only has Terri never had a heart attack as widely reported in the major media, she also never even had a cardiac arrest (her heart never stopped)! [She had arrhythmias of the heart, but not a "stopped heart."] He explained that Terri's injuries were multiple and showed injury TO her.

 He stated that Terri had marked injury to her neck which still exists today, and that he has only seen a similar injury, with spinal cord involvement as well as brain injury, in one case where a patient had been strangled. He stated that Terri had an L-1 injury to her spine, which he stated is common among persons being thrown against a table, for example. Excerpt from the Hospice Patients Alliance Newsletter January 8, 2004 by Ron Panzer [bold emphasis added.]

(Quote source: Ron Panzer's Notes: Interview With Dr. Hammesfahr)

Pamela Hennessy has had time to correct the "cardiac arrest" misinformation promoted in her article, but she has not done this. 

When information is incorrect due to a mistake, it is called misinformation. When one deliberately dispenses incorrect information, she has moved over into the arena of disinformation:

Disinformation is an act of misinforming, or deceptively communicating false knowledge or faulty intelligence. A common disinformation tactic is to mix truth, half-truths, and lies. (Quote source: Disinformation)

Pamela's sentence, "The precise cause of her collapse is still not known though she did suffer a cardiac arrest" is followed by a statement which suggests the  non-existent cardiac arrest caused oxygen deprivation with a resulting brain injury: 

Due to the lack of oxygen to her brain for several minutes, Terri suffered profound brain damage and has been physically and cognitively disabled ever since.

(Oct. 4, 2003 The Means to an End) 

[The article, "The Means to an End" was removed from terrisfight.org. You may read it in the internet archives.]

The cardiac arrest/heart attack lies are Michael Schiavo's best friends because this disinformation shifts the focus from Terri's extraordinarily rigid neck (consistent with strangulation and asphyxiation) to Terri's non-existent heart problems. Medical records reveal that she did not have a cardiac arrest, but that she did have arrhythmias of the heart. She also had an "extraordinarily rigid neck," a head injury, and several bone fractures which revealed a "history of trauma." 

Asphyxiation can cause lack of oxygen to the brain and is associated with an extraordinarily rigid neck and neck injury (both confirmed in Terri's medical records) but was overlooked on terrisfight.org in favor of the cardiac arrest disinformation. Strangulation and arrhythmias of the heart can also cause the brain to be deprived of oxygen.

Arrhythmias of the Heart and Defibrillations

Terri had "arrhythmias of the heart" when she was found by the paramedics in a face down position. According to Dr. Hammesfahr's complete report, "aggressive resuscitation was performed with 7 defibrillations en route." 

Arrhythmias of the heart causes abnormal heart rhythms:

Arrhythmias (or dysrhythmias) are problems that affect the electrical system of the heart muscle, producing abnormal heart rhythms. They can cause the heart to pump less effectively.

Defibrillations were performed to restore Terri's normal heart rhythms:

Defibrillation is a process in which an electronic device gives an electric shock to the heart. This helps reestablish normal contraction rhythms in a heart having dangerous arrhythmia or in cardiac arrest.

There are many causes for arrhythmias of the heart. Considering that Terri was healthy at the time she either collapsed or was struck down, it is positively scandalous that an investigation was not conducted to determine what caused her to go from a state of health to a state of serious injury.

Terrisfight.org's Media Darling Promotes the Stopped Heart Myth!

Glenn Beck promoted the "stopped heart" (cardiac arrest) myth in an October 2002 broadcast. The link to this interview is prominently displayed on the main page of terrisfight.org even after Dr. William Hammesfahr refuted this disinformation in his interview with Ron Panzer!

Pamela Hennessy also posts the link to Glen Beck's October 10, 2002 program (which "happens" to have a slant which aids the other side) on the Free Republic forum and perhaps elsewhere too.

This program promotes Michael Schiavo's propaganda that Terri had bulimia which resulted in a near fatal heart attack (Glenn really described cardiac arrest):

Glen Beck: She was engaged in bulimia so, so HORRIBLY, that she drops dead of a heart attack. They resuscitate her, but she's never the same.

Glenn Beck continues to further the cardiac arrest propaganda by linking, with no disclaimer, to mainstream news media that promotes this disinformation as well. For example, in the Glennbeck.com November 5, 2003 archives, there is a link to a foxnews.com article that repeats this inaccuarate myth:

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart temporarily stopped because of a chemical imbalance. Doctors have said she has no hope for recovery from a vegetative state.

(Terri Schiavo's Parents Excluded From Legal Battle)

It is inexcusable that Pamela is linking to Glenn Beck's heart-attack/arrest-propaganda broadcast because she knows that Terri's collapse was not caused by a heart attack:

“It was found that a heart attack did not cause Terri’s collapse as everyone was led to believe. Rather, according to one physician, Terri may have been a strangulation victim,” says Hennessy.

(Quote source: Life News: Terri Schiavo's Life Spared for 30 More Days June 27, 2003)

The media kit, found at terrisfight.org, debunks the myth that Terri had a heart attack:

MYTH: Terri’s condition was caused by a heart attack.

FACT: Terri was NEVER diagnosed as a heart attack victim when she was admitted to the Northside Humana emergency room in February 1990. To this day, her family does not know the true cause of her collapse. Doctors immediately excluded heart attack as her blood enzymes were not elevated—typical in all heart attack victims. Terri’s toxicology screen also eliminated any suspicion of drugs.

It is disturbing that Pamela Hennessy promotes Glenn Beck because he is spouting damage control for Michael Schiavo: the bulimia and heart attack lies. (See: Glenn Beck Broadcast: Humiliates Terri,  Helps Michael's Agenda)

Furthermore, at this writing, terrisfight.org does not cite or link to Ron Panzer's important interview with Dr. William Hammesfahr, or cite Dr. Michael Baden's remarks that refute the heart attack and potassium imbalance myths. This censorship is inconsistent with the alleged mission of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation.

Media Loves the Cardiac Arrest, Heart Attack Myths

The "Terri Schiavo had a heart attack lie" is a fabrication that has been spread far and wide by the mainstream liberal and alternative media. This myth, which aids Michael Schiavo, leads the public to believe that Terri Schiavo collapsed due to natural causes even though evidence points strongly toward foul play. A Free Republic poster reported that the television program, On the Record, promoted the heart attack lie as recently as January 21, 2004:

To: floriduh voter
I watched the interview last night [On the Record with Greta--FoxNews Channle Jan. 21, 2004] and they are starting to let the truth be known, however did anyone notice the writing on the bottom of the screen during the interview that said "Terri collapsed after a heart attack". We got to get "them" to stop referring to the collapse as a heart attack. Maybe even if they inserted the word "alleged heart attack" that may be a bit more tolerable.


38 posted on 01/22/2004 5:25:28 AM PST by lilypad

Note: The Schindlers are busy trying to help Terri and probably do not have time to monitor the contents of terrisfight.org. These critiques of content on terrisfight.org are not critical of the Schindlers, but rather, of the individuals who are using this site to promote disinformation that "happens" to benefit Michael Schiavo's agenda, or to suppress information that is damaging to his agenda to kill Terri. To do this once is too many times. They do this often.

For example, the link to the Larry King Live interview on the new multimedia page (http://terrisfight.org/multimedia.html) is an hour's worth of bold-faced lies about Terri and the Schindlers! Why are they promoting this damage-control-for-Michael-Schiavo television interview on a website dedicated to saving Terri's life? 

Why didn't terrisfight.org link to the interview that refutes the lies Michael and his lawyer said on the Larry King Live show--which aired the same night and the same hour on a different channel? 

See: Terrisfight.org: A Hidden Agenda and Five in Her Eye: Death in Disguise 

Scientology and Terri Schindler Schiavo: The Death Connection

Also see: For the Life of Terri Schiavo

updated 02/27/04

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