Schiavo's book tells of legal fight

TAMPA - Michael Schiavo made a last-minute decision to give up on his fight to remove his brain-damaged wife's feeding tube last year as he was hounded by protesters and getting death threats, but his attorney talked him out of it, Schiavo said in a book about the end-of-life case that captivated the nation.

On March 16, the day before Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for the last time, Schiavo's longtime fiance, Jodi Centonze, persuaded him "to walk away from Terri," he said in the book released Monday and titled "Terri: The Truth." She was worried about the safety of their two children. He called his attorney, George Felos, to deliver the news.

"(Felos) reminded me that we had to realize that it wasn't just about Terri anymore," Schiavo wrote. "It was about the rest of the people who didn't want the government telling us how we could die and when we were allowed to decide that we didn't want further medical treatment. And it was about who has the right to make decisions between a husband and wife."

Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed, and she died in her husband's arms 13 days later on March 31. That followed the efforts of Gov. Jeb Bush, his older brother, President Bush, Congress and Pope John Paul II, all of whom supported the woman's parents in their fight to keep her alive. Michael Schiavo contended all along he was carrying out her wishes.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Schiavo said it didn't take much for Felos to persuade him that he needed to see it through.

"It was bigger than I ever dreamed it would become," he said. "But my parents raised me to be a fighter and go out and do what I believe in. And I was there to do what Terri wanted, and I wasn't going to give it up."

Schiavo notes that even if he had abandoned his effort to let Terri die, a judge had already ruled it was her wish not to be kept alive in her vegetative state and ordered removal of the feeding tube.

The 360-page book, written with author Michael Hirsh, chronicles Terri and Michael Schiavo's life together before and after a collapse in 1990 left her in what doctors called a persistent vegetative state, and the bitter seven-year legal battle between him and his in-laws, Robert and Mary Schindler, over Terri's life.

The Schindlers, whose own book about the case was released Tuesday, doubted Schiavo's contention that she wouldn't have wanted to be kept alive artificially.

The Schindlers didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday but have indicated that they planned to respond to Schiavo's book in a news conference Thursday in Washington.

After staying mostly behind the scenes as the drama played out, Schiavo said he thought he needed to write the book to clear the air and respond to some of the allegations against him.

"I need to get my word out there and let the people know what really happened and what the truth was," he told the AP. "The other part is, I want people to know Terri, the girl she was and the woman she became, and I don't want people to go through what I went through. It was a horrible thing."

Other observations by Schiavo in the book:

- He believes an eating disorder led to Terri's collapse in 1990. And he blames her father's constant criticism of her about her weight for helping cause it.

- Schiavo immediately called 911 after Terri's collapse. The Schindlers and others have accused him of waiting to call authorities.

- He first thought about removing Terri's feeding tube in 1993 after it became clear she was beyond help and doctors suggested the alternative. He said he couldn't bring himself to try to do it until experiencing his mother's death in 1997.

"The lesson I took from the experience of watching my mom face death was that I should stop putting off the decision for Terri," he wrote.

- Centonze, whom he met in 1993, had two children with and married earlier this year, was his partner in caring for Terri at the hospice and understood his devotion to her. Had they not found each other, "I'm not sure what would have happened to him," Centonze said in the book.

"Maybe there would have been someone else to be his rock," she said. "But I know he could not have lasted all these years alone, because he was a very sad, depressed and lonely person. He deserved some happiness while he dealt with a situation most men would have walked away from."

- Someone offered $250,000 to anyone who would kill Schiavo, and he, Centonze and their children received death threats.

Schiavo wrote that he was cradling Terri when she died in her bed at the hospice while protesters carried on loudly outside.

"Tears were streaming down my face and I was sobbing as I tried to tell Terri that it was okay now, it was finally over," he wrote. "I remember saying, 'You can be at peace now. I love you."'

Schiavo, who is now a practicing registered nurse, said he hopes the book will motivate people to get living wills and oppose politicians who try to intervene in the personal affairs of others.

"The worst thing you could do after reading my book is nothing," he wrote.