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| GEORGE PICKERING III |
Doctors at the Tomball Regional Medical Centre in
Houston, Texas, USA got an experience of a lifetime when the father of a supposedly
brain dead man threatened to shoot them if they turned off a life support
machine sustaining him.
The patient’s father, George Pickering II now released after a discharge of charges, did not accept their report that his son George III, 27, would
not regain consciousness after suffering a stroke and he held off the police
and staff of the hospital from turning off the machine in a three hour standoff
armed with a gun.
The doctors had earlier on directed that George
III be weaned off the machine, a slow process of taking off an unconscious
patient off life support. However, the patient’s father George II, 59 was able to
make his son to squeeze his hand at his command several times in the
course of the stand-off. The doctors had made their decision without Mr.
Pickering’s consent but with that of his ex-wife and other son and they
had even gone ahead to inform an organ donor organization to have his organs
harvested.
George III speaking with the press said he felt
the staff of the hospital were too hasty in making their decision and he knew
if he had three or four hours with his son that night he would know
conclusively if his son was dead or not. He says sure enough during the period
of the three hour standoff he knew for sure that he was alive as he got him to
squeeze his hand three or four times on command. He accepts for a fact that he
was drunk and aggressive on the night in question but adds that he took
the step as he had experienced a similar situation when George III, who has a
history of seizures, regained consciousness in the past.
George III said though his father broke the law,
he did it for the right reasons as he had as a parent the duty to protect his
child and having done just that, he is alive. Father and son are both free and home together
again. George II, however, appeared before the court on
a two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was jailed.
The charges were eventually dropped and he was released.
The hospital in a statement claimed that its
action was in line with the practice standards and would make no further comments
on the matter.
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