Events Will Focus on Advocacy, Education and a New Home for Brain Injured

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network
March 10, 2025

ST, PETERSBURG, Fla., March 10, 2025 /Standard Newswire/ -- Terri Schiavo was a vibrant, 26-year old when she unexpectedly collapsed at home. Terri sustained a serious brain injury – but still responsive to her friends and family, her battle to live was tragically cut short by a Florida judge who ruled that her feeding tube could be removed on March 18, 2005, at the request of her husband. She died just 13 days later but not before the events surrounding her life and death led to an international debate over a patient’s right to life.

Now, on the 20th anniversary of her death, the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network in collaboration with Catholic Healthcare International (CHI) will partner in a series of high-profile events to commemorate her life, remind people of the events surrounding her death and highlight the Life & Hope Networks’ efforts to protect all human life.

“My family established the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network and a 24/7 National Crisis Lifeline twenty years ago to assist families facing the same fate as Terri but also to increase awareness of these government policies taking away a patient and family’s rights,” said Bobby Schindler, President of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, which is based in St. Petersburg. “Unfortunately, in these last twenty years, the world has become even more hostile toward a patient’s right to life-affirming care.”

Here is what is currently planned for the anniversary year:

● One of the most significant events of the year is the announcement of the Terri Schiavo Home for the Brain Injured to be located within Catholic Health International’s Saint Padre Pio Home for the Relief of Suffering Medical Center in Howell, MI. This new home will serve those like Terri who have experienced a brain injury. The home will provide unmatched medical care to those needing rehabilitation and to offer spiritual care to uplift, their families, caregivers and the community.

● On March 22, 2025 a special exhibition at the Saint Mary Cathedral Parish Center will kick off the several events. The exhibition will shed light on Terri’s story with an opportunity to meet Terri’s family, explore her artwork, photographs and media mementos. There will also be educational displays to demonstrate the many misrepresentations and misinformation about Terri’s story."­­

● On that same day, His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Burke, traveling from Rome, will celebrate a commemorative 20th anniversary mass in honor of Terri in the Saint Mary Cathedral in Lansing. All are welcome.

● Finally, the Life & Hope Network will be heightening its advocacy efforts during this 20th anniversary year, hoping to increase awareness about its work and its services for families and brain injured patients confronted with the same challenges as Terri. With the recharacterization of life sustaining food and water as a “medical treatment,” it is now legal to remove food and water in all 50 states. This deprives families of the right to make their own decisions and puts the decision in the hands of doctors and hospitals who are strangers to these patients.

All these events are open to the public and the Life & Hope Network, a non-profit organization, seeks donations and support for its efforts.

About the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network
The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network and a 24/7 National Crisis Lifeline, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, advocates for patients like Terri and provides support and guidance to families and caregivers. The Life & Hope Network seeks to increase awareness about today’s healthcare system and the dangerous trend that is undermining human dignity, particularly those labeled as "life unworthy of life," using euphemisms to obscure the truth: the intentional ending of lives deemed no longer productive. For more information or to support the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, go to: lifeandhope.com. To learn more about Terri Schiavo, go to TerriSchiavo.org.

CONTACT: Jay Devine, 215-880-0200; Kevin Shinkle, 917-828-6006