FREDERICK, MD, October 21, 2011 / – The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network has been able to intervene in the life of a Frederick, MD, man who was on the same path as their late sister Terri Schiavo. Daniel Sanger, 55, had a heart attack and a seizure and temporarily lost consciousness and was being sustained only by a tube to deliver food and water, which his wife removed by court order last Friday. But after 6 days without food and water, Mr. Sanger began responding to hospital staff and the Life & Hope Network, with the help of attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund, obtained a court order to reinstate the food and water tube on behalf of Sanger’s mother and brother. “Unfortunately Mr. Sanger’s case is not unique and many other people who experiences debilitating health problems face similar situations but without the help of skilled legal teams and support networks,” said Bobby Schindler, the co-executive director of the Life & Hope Network. “We have a vast network of physicians and attorneys to help with these kinds of cases.” The judge in this case, when reinstating the food and water tube, sided with Sanger’s mother and brother instead of his wife, who wanted Sanger to starve and dehydrate to death. Sanger specifically said he wanted to live before he became unconscious. The trial in this case will commence next Wednesday in the Frederick County Circuit Court. Since the inception of the Life & Hope Network, the Schindlers have been contacted by more than 1,000 families seeking their assistance and support in similar matters such as Terri’s. “I hope the judge recognizes Mr. Sanger’s desire to live and not allow the hospital or Sanger’s wife to kill him by starvation and dehydration,” said Schindler. “There is no compassion or mercy in such a decision to remove the necessary nutritional elements of food and water.” The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit group dedicated to helping persons with disabilities, and the incapacitated who are in or potentially facing life-threatening situations.
