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19 month old Natalie Newton drowned in her family's backyard pool. There's whole conversations to be had about that.
But the story actually gets worse.
The family, left with this little shell of a body, conferred with doctors. And that's where the awful part comes in.
I had to set the story aside for a moment at that point.
They stayed with the little girl through the whole thing. Hat over heart for that. But I don't even know what to say about this that the grandfather hasn't already said.
I don't know what would happen to me, having to watch my son go through that. No way I'd walk away from him. But I can't imagine the agony they must have felt, knowing what it was doing to the girl's body. How do watch that, even knowing the little girl was already effectively dead?
I don't give a damn about criticizing Texas. The law needs to change.
But the story actually gets worse.
Natty — as the family called her– was eventually revived. But, their busy, happy girl, was already gone.
“It was just horrible. Blind and deaf and can’t move… can you imagine?” Newton, Natalie’s grandfather, wipes away tears as he talks about the heartbreaking decision that would soon follow. After more than an hour without oxygen, doctors at a hospital near the family’s Corpus Christi home determined that Natalie would ultimately not survive.
The family, left with this little shell of a body, conferred with doctors. And that's where the awful part comes in.
“They’re saying, ‘ok, well, the nutrition and the hydration’… and I ask them, ‘well, isn’t that starving her to death?’”
In a word: yes. ‘Withholding nutrition’ as it is nicely put– is the only end of life option that Texas Law allows.
I had to set the story aside for a moment at that point.
“We euthanize dogs for humanity reasons. We euthanize serial killers, because that’s more humane. But, a 21-month old baby has to starve for almost 9 days in front of her family?”
They stayed with the little girl through the whole thing. Hat over heart for that. But I don't even know what to say about this that the grandfather hasn't already said.
I don't know what would happen to me, having to watch my son go through that. No way I'd walk away from him. But I can't imagine the agony they must have felt, knowing what it was doing to the girl's body. How do watch that, even knowing the little girl was already effectively dead?
I don't give a damn about criticizing Texas. The law needs to change.