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! Timeline :

| 1963 1982 1984 1986 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

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1963

  • December 3: Terri Schindler is born in the Huntingdon Valley area of Lower Moreland Township, Pennsylvania.

1981

  • Terri graduates from Archbishop Wood Catholic High School.
  • At pounds, Terri loses with a NutriSystem diet in a year. Dr. Ickler supervising.

1982

  • Terri meets Michael Schiavo in a sociology class at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
  • Five months later, Terri and Michael get engaged; Terri leaves college. They live outside of Philadelphia.

1985

  • May: Terri misses her period. She sees Dr. Mambu thinking she is pregnant. Terri weighs . from Humana to College Harbor Nursing Home, where she stays for 50 days.
  • June 30: Prudential terminates insurance coverage. Terri leaves College Harbor, is admitted to Bayfront Hospital, a state designated facility for brain injuries, for ten weeks, at the Schindlers' expense. for a month of rehab.

1991

  • January: Michael and Terri return from California to Florida. Terri is admitted to Mediplex Rehabilitation Center in Bradenton.
  • February: Terri expresses signs of pain during physical therapy. Bone scan ordered.
  • 5 March: Dr. W. Campbell Walker performs a bone scan on Terri. The scan shows prior traumatic injuries to multiple ribs (on both sides), both sacroiliac joints, both knees, both ankles, several thoracic vertebrae, and her right thigh. In addition, the scan shows a minor compression fracture of her L1 vertebra.
  • July 19: Terri is transferred from Mediplex to Sable Palms for custodial care.

2001

  • Dr. Ron Cranford, neurologist, assesses Terri's brain function as part of a court-ordered examination. His exam shows that Terri's cerebral cortex has been completely destroyed; he finds that her upper brain is 80% destroyed, and there is much damage to the lower brain.
  • April 26: Terri's feeding tube is removed for the first time. It is reinserted two days later on an appeal by her parents.

2002

  • A trial is held to determine whether or not new therapy treatments would help Terri restore any cognitive function.

:A new CAT scan shows severe cerebral atrophy. An EEG shows no measurable brain activity.

:Five doctors are selected to provide their expert opinions to the trial. Schiavo's parents select Dr. William Maxfield, a retired radiologist, and Dr. William Hammesfahr, a neurologist. Michael Schiavo selects neurologists Dr. Ron Cranford and Dr. Melvin Greer (no relation to Judge George Greer). The court selects neurologist Dr. Peter Bambakidis. These five doctors examine Terri Schiavo's medical records, brain scans, the videos, and Schiavo herself.

:Drs. Cranford, Greer, and Bambakidis testify that Terri was in a persistent vegetative state. Dr. Maxfield and Dr. Hammesfahr testify that Schiavo was in a "minimally conscious state."

:Terri's parents videotape Terri for four and a half hours. The video is edited down to several clips totaling four and a half minutes.

:Judge Greer rules that Terri Schiavo is in a PVS and was beyond hope of significant improvement.

  • Fall 2002: Jodi Centonze gives birth to her first child with Michael.
  • November 22: Judge Greer denies a motion from Terri's parents for a full evidentiary hearing to evaluate new evidence, the 1990 bone scan, which had only recently come to their attention. Greer states that the issue of trauma twelve years earlier was irrelevant to the current case.
  • Florida's Second District Court of Appeal reviews previous court records and upholds the trial court's decision.

2003

  • September 11: The Schindlers petition the Pinellas County court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit. The petition asks the court to forestall any removal of the feeding tube for "eight weeks' therapy." Accompanying the petition are five affidavits: four from members of the Schindler family (presumably her mother, father, brother, and sister) and one from Dr. Alexander T. Gimon. Additional affidavits from three "speech professionals" and two nurses are included.
  • September 17: Judge Greer issues a nine-page court ruling, rejecting the petition.
  • October 10: The final remaining appeal filed by the Schindlers is dismissed.
  • October 15: Terri's feeding tube is removed for the second time.
  • October 21: The Florida Legislature passes "Terri's Law." Governor Jeb Bush immediately orders the feeding tube reinserted.
  • December: Dr. Jay Wolfson reports to Governor Bush, "within the testimony, as part of the hypotheticals presented, Schindler family members stated that even if (Terri) had told them of her intention to have artificial nutrition withdrawn, they would not do it. Throughout this painful and difficult trial, the family acknowledged that (Terri) was in a diagnosed persistent vegetative state."

2004

  • Spring 2004: Jodi Centonze gives birth to her second child with Michael.
  • May 19: Florida Judge W. Douglas Baird overturns "Terri's Law". The ruling is appealed.
  • September 23: Florida Supreme Court agrees that "Terri's Law" is unconstitutional.

2005

  • January 24: The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear the case.
  • February 25: Judge George Greer orders Terri's feeding tube removed on March 18.
  • March 11: Media tycoon Robert Herring offers one million dollars to Michael Schiavo if he agrees to waive his guardianship over Terri to her parents. Michael declines.
  • March 17: Members of the Florida Legislature consider a bill that would make removing food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state illegal without a living will. Although the bill is passed by the Florida House of Representatives by a vote of 78 to 37, the Florida Senate defeats a similar measure hours later, 21 to 18.
  • March 17: U.S. Senators Bill Frist and Michael Enzi announce that Terri Schiavo would be called to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on March 28 in Washington. No one expects Terri to testify, but the move extends witness protection to Terri, requiring reinsertion of her feeding tube.
  • March 18: Greer strikes down the subpoena as unconstitutional and Terri's feeding tube is removed for the third and final time.
  • March 20/21: U.S. Congress approves emergency legislation, the Palm Sunday Compromise.
  • March 21: Bob and Mary Schindler file a request for an emergency injunction with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa.
  • March 22: Judge James D. Whittemore refuses to order the feeding tube reinserted.
  • March 22: Three Florida neurologists view 12 of Terri's CT scans. Dr. Leon Prockop says it was the "most severe brain damage I've seen." Dr. Walter Bradley says that he "doubts there's any activity going on in the higher levels of her brain." Dr. Michael T. Pulley says, "The chance that this person is going to recover is about zero."
  • March 23: The Florida Senate again debates this proposed law, which is again rejected, 21 to 18.

:The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta denies the request to reinsert the feeding tube. The three-judge panel rules 2-1.

  • March 23: Bob and Mary Schindler appeal again to the U.S. Supreme Court.
  • March 24: The U.S. Supreme Court declines to grant certiorari. Judge Greer issues an injunction denying the Florida State government's right to have the Florida Department of Children & Families take over Schiavo's care.
  • March 27: Terri is given the Anointing of the Sick ("Last Rites").
  • March 30: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta agrees to consider a petition by Schiavo's parents to have a new hearing to decide whether the feeding tube should be reinserted. Later that day, the court denies the petition.
  • March 31: Terri Schiavo dies at 9:03 AM EST.
  • June 15: Autopsy results released.
  • June 20: Terri Schiavo is cremated.

References