Murder, Mystery & Makeup - Remember Terri Schiavo?? What was that about? How a Private Battle became a Public WAR

Episode Date: December 9, 2025

Hi friends! Happy Tuesday!! The Terri Schiavo story is one I remember from when I was a kid. Because it was everywhere for a while. But the details were blurry. So I decided to dig in. Terri was just 26 years old when she collapsed and ended up in a persistent vegetative state. And that was just the beginning of the story. Pretty much over night... her husband and parents went to war over her life support—trying to decide who had the right to decide if she stayed alive, and what Terri would have really wanted. Then the fight went global. Politicians, religious groups, and even the Pope jumped in on the conversation, turning this private tragedy into worldwide headlines. The battle raged in the papers and in courtrooms for 15 years. Until it all came to an end. Also, let me know who you want me to talk about next time. Hope you have a great rest of your week, make good choices and I'll be seeing you very soon. xo Bailey Sarian ________ FOLLOW ME AROUND Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Goodreads: https://bit.ly/44P51lp Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail] Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail: Bailey Sarian 4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300 Burbank, CA 91505 _________ Shop my favorite pajamas at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you! Select "podcast" in the survey and be sure to select our show in the dropdown menu that follows. And if you’re looking for the perfect gifts for everyone on your list - the SKIMS Holiday Shop is now open at SKIMS.com. For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code MAKEUP at checkout. That’s AuraFrames.com promo code MAKEUP. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays! Support the show by mentioning us at checkout! Terms and conditions apply. 

Hi, friends. How are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian and today is Monday, which means it's murder, mystery, and makeup Monday. If you're new here, hi. My name is Bailey Sarian and on Mondays I'm out of breath usually, but I like to sit down, talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my... Noggin. And I do my makeup at the same time. I'm over my intro right now because we need to talk about Terry Shivo. Look, my friend Courtney, hey Courtney, we've been friends since high school. We go way back.

Courtney texted me and she was like, I'm down this rabbit hole right now. And I was like, tell me more. Tell me more. And she was like, do you remember Terry Shivo? I was like, what? Like, you know that a, what? Like my brain almost broke because it was like, oh my God, yeah.

I remember the name. haven't heard that name in forever and between you and me I think we're around the same age and I know you remember hearing the name Terry Schiavo right now personally I remember it couldn't tell you really much about it I was a kid you know whatever so I was like well if Courtney's down this rabbit hole let me go so I started and it's been I know I say this every time I do a murder mystery, but I go down my serious rabbit holes where it's like, hence why I don't really post on social media that much is because I'm busy. I am busy reading a lot.

So Terry Schifo's husband and her family, they each came out with their own books about the story and like from their perspective or whatever. So I was like, oh, let me read the books. Then it sent me down. So we are going to be talking about Terry Shepard. It's not funny. It's just like, wow, girl, I know too much. I know too much. If you're not familiar, let me give you a little brief rundown. It's 1990, okay? 26 year old, Terry Shyvo, she collapsed in her Florida home. 26, okay? Terry, minding her own business, right? She's in her 20s and boom. Her heart stops. Please come, I'll let you jazz. By the time, like, help arrives. The damage is already done. She's alive, but barely. And what starts as a family tragedy quickly spirals into one of the most controversial, heartbreaking, most insane legal battles in America and the world, really, because everyone got involved.

Everyone got involved. Now, Terry wasn't just sick. She was in a vegetative state, unable to move, speak, or even, like, make decisions for herself. And that is where the nightmare began. Her husband, her parents, the courts, the media, the freaking Pope. Pope! Yeah, I was like, Pope! What?

Everyone had an opinion on what should happen to Terry. Was she alive? Was she suffering? Was it time to let her go? It was heavy. Now, these questions really divided the country. It made headlines for years. And the more you get into this story, the more insurm.

the more insane it really was. It really was. So let me just tell you everything I know about the Terry Shivo story, okay? Thank you. Just let me go. Let me, just let me, let me vent. I know a lot. Trigger warning, there will be a mention of an eating disorder. So I just want to give that little heads up. So Michael Shivo and Terry Schindler were both born in 1963 in Pennsylvania, from families. Kind of similar last names, but not really. Born in the same town, same age, great. The two of them wouldn't meet until they got to college in like 1982. They went to Buck's community college. I believe it's in Pennsylvania. But according to Michael's book, he said he was in class and he like heard Terry's laugh and he turned around and he saw her big beautiful brown eyes

and her even more beautiful smile and he just wanted to get to know her. So it wouldn't take long for Michael to ask Terry out on a date. Terry, of course, wanted to, but she told him, okay, you have to meet my parents first, you know? So Michael's like, oh yeah, okay, no problem. He meets the parents before their first date. He went over to Terry's home. He met her family. Michael remembered Terry's mom.

Her name was Mary. She was very warm. She seemed outgoing and friendly. And then Terry's father, Michael described him as gruff. I was like, can you expand on that? But he didn't. He just said it was he was gruff. Well, Michael definitely passed the test and he and Terry, they started dating.

You know, like when you start dating, as people do, they start to get to know each other. And they were hanging out all the time. So while they got to know each other, you know, they would talk about their past growing up, family, X, Y, Z, you know. In Michael's book, he shared how Terry actually confided in him, sharing about her experience in high school. She told him that when she was in high school, she was like 250 pounds. She was insecure.

She was bullied. She told Michael that she actually had never had a boyfriend before. So she's sharing all this with Michael. And Michael asked her, oh, like, how'd you lose all the weight? Because by the time they were dating, she had lost. like 100 pounds around 100 pounds so michael's like how'd you lose all that way you know and she she just told him like i was tired of people making fun of me especially according to michael's book this is what he said she said she didn't like that her father and her brother were constantly harassing her about

her weight terry said that the treatment from her brother and father was like just awful awful there was no safe space for her she would go home get made fun of she would go to school get made fun of just wasn't great, you know? And instead of the family trying to like support, Terry said that they would just make fun of her. She even told Michael about the offers she would get from her brother and dad where they would be like, hey, if you lose X amount of weight, I'll give you this much money. Like they were offering her money to lose weight. So Terry had told Michael that like she always loved her father, but she didn't feel like she could talk to him very easily. He was described as being like that old school dad, you know, on TV or maybe in real life, where they would come home

from work, they'd plop on the recliner, call out things to like his wife, like, bring me my beer or whatever, you know. That's how Terry's dad was. And Terry's mom, Mary, she would serve him. She was constantly there to serve. Well, after their second date, Terry told like all her friends and stuff that she knew she was going to marry him. And it didn't take long for Michael to propose. I think he proposed like five months later. And they were like, we're doing it. We're getting married.

So they set the wedding date for November 10th, 1984. And they started planning a somewhat big wedding. I think they had like 200 people at the wedding. But they were still in college at this time. They decided to drop out and get focused on work instead, like a full-time job. So Michael started working at a local fast food restaurant as a manager. And then Terry, she actually started working for an insurance company. Michael said growing up, his family wasn't very religious.

Like they were considered Lutheran, but they weren't practicing, I guess. Terry was raised Catholic and her family wanted them the couple to get married in a Catholic church. According to Michael, he would say that Terry's family wasn't very religious. based on what he saw, he would call them E.C. Catholics, meaning that they, like, only attended Mass on Easter and Christmas. But he didn't mind, like, getting married in a Catholic church. He wanted to be with Terry, you know? Just, he was like, fine. Michael said leading up to the wedding, he did notice that Terry was losing some weight, but he, he never saw her exercising. Now, at this time, like, he didn't really think to ask. He just kind of thought,

like, oh, this is what brides do when they get married. You know, they try and lose. I don't know. He just didn't think about it. So 20-year-old Terry and 21-year-old Michael, they would go on to get married in November of 1984 in Southampton, Pennsylvania. It was said that there was like 200 guests. She looked gorgeous. He looked wonderful.

And it was just an all-around good time. So after the marriage, the couple had lived in Pennsylvania for a little bit. But they really wanted change. They wanted some son. They just wanted something new. So they decided they were going to move to Florida. It seems random, but Terry's family had property in Florida and stuff. So it made sense.

So they decided that they're going to move to Florida and they tell Terry's family, like, we're thinking about it. We really want to move, whatever. So Terry's family offers their condo that they owned to Michael and Terry. And like a side note, Terry's family seemed well off. Terry's father owned some business. I didn't go too far into it. He owned some business.

He sold it. Was able to retire early. Like, they seemed to be doing pretty well. So the family offers the couple the condo. Of course, they're going to take them up on this. So Michael and Tara, they end up moving to St. Petersburg, Florida. Michael was able to find a job in the restaurant industry pretty fast. and Terry was able to actually get a transfer with the insurance company that she was still working for.

Now, Terry's family, her mom, dad, and all that, they actually decided to also move down to Florida. They sold their company and they decided like they were going to do like an early retirement near Terry and Michael. So, you know, like they're being a couple, they're being cute, they're building their lives together. And now they're ready for that next chapter in their lives. they want to have a baby together. So Terry was, it was said that she was very excited about this, that she wanted to be a mother, and she was 100% yes to this idea. So the couple started to try, jizzin, jizzing, jizz and jizz, you know?

No look, nothing. So Terry's like kind of getting a little frustrated, so she decides to go to her gynecologist, where they did blood work, pelvic exams, you know, all that. fun stuff that they do. And when she got her results back, the doctor said, like, everything's normal. Michael said that Terry had expressed that something just, she felt like something wasn't right. Something was off. So the two of them decided after they got these results back, they decided like, okay, how about like next week we find a new doctor and try and figure out what's going on with you, right? And that was the plan. But before she could,

everything came to an end. Oh, I know. It's so, it's so, it's so, she's so, yeah, they're so young. It's the holidays, which means it's time for hot chocolate, nostalgic movies, and cozy pajamas. But every year I pull out my holiday pajamas, the waistband is fraying, the material's all faded, and the fabric is just not soft anymore. There's holes everywhere. But thankfully, Skims is here to save the day and your night's sleep. Skims has pajama options for women, men, kids, and even pets, which means this year I can get most of my holiday shopping done in one go. Honestly, I'm buying another pair for myself to the pajamas. Oh, yeah, that's how much I love them.

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After you place your order, be sure to let them know that we sent you. Select podcasts in the survey and be sure to select our show in the drop-down menu that follows. And if you're looking for the perfect gifts for everyone on your list, the Skims Holiday Shop is now open at skims.com. So February 25th, 1990, around 5.30 in the morning, Michael said he was sleeping and he was woken up by a loud thud. Now he wakes up. He notices like Terry's not in bed. So he gets up and that's when he finds Terry. She's laying face down on the floor, kind of like her body's halfway in the bathroom, halfway out. She's not responding. And it's, appears that she had a stroke. Michael's, he calls 911. When police got there, you know,

they looked at the house and whatnot. They actually, they noted in their police report that no crime had been committed. There were no signs of a struggle or violence or anything like that, right? So police had asked Michael like, do you have any idea what happened? Anything? And Michael told police that the only thing he knew was that Terry was struggling with, quote, unquote, problems and that she hadn't been feeling well. So he told the police that she had just visited her gynecologist. Everything came back normal, but they were going to see someone next week because she doesn't feel right, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, everything I just told you pretty much. And they're like, okay, well, Terry gets taken to the hospital. Now, when she arrived there,

she was unresponsive. So she's unresponsive. So they run blood tests on her. It shows no drugs or alcohol in her system. Well, to be fair, if you want a fact check me, There was like a small amount of alcohol, I believe, but it was nothing worthy of being noted. So they did a cat scan, you know, on her brain to see what's going on. And when they got the results back, it showed that there was a midline shift of her brain. So I was like, what does that mean? Tell me more. So midline shift, yes, is when your brain isn't sitting in the center like it's supposed to. usually because of pressure or swelling.

So like in Terry's case, it was caused by the stroke. Now, if the brain, if your brain shifts too much, it can press on certain areas of your brain, making it hard for that area to work properly because your brain controls everything, right? So like breathing, talking, or moving, if the pressure's too intense, it won't work. So it showed that her brain, it has shifted.

You know, Michael gets to the hospital, And he's saying, as I could imagine, just everything is swirling, right? Just like, what the fuck is going on right now? Terry's mother and father, they came to the hospital as well. But everything was a blur, as you would imagine. So then a nurse came to the family and was like, hey, would you like a priest? I know. I was like, could you imagine?

One night you're saying like, good night, love you. And like literally, hours later, a priest. priest is administering last rights to Terry. Now, mind you, she was only 26 years old. Same with Michael. They're only 26. She's 26, though. It made no sense to the family.

Like, at all, what the hell happened? So a couple of days later, a doctor actually meets with Michael and tells him that Terry, his wife, had suffered from a cardiac arrest caused by a potassium imbalance. Yes. which led to brain damage due to lack of oxygen. So the doctor mentioned that they believed Terry was bulimic. When they were, you know, doing checks and all that, they noted that she had overdeveloped neck muscles

and they believed it was caused from her throwing up. So they're explaining to Mike what bulimia is, remember, this is the early 90s eating disorders and all that, were not like in the conversation as much. They were, but like they weren't, you know? So he explains to like what bulimia is, and essentially that with bulimia, the body can lose a lot of essential nutrients, especially like potassium from vomiting, abusing water pills, or even like excessive laxative use. And potassium is really important. Not a doctor. I'll give you a little run down here, but it keeps like your muscles, everything pumping, your heart work in, everything flowing right. So without it, it throws everything off. Like in Terry's case, they believe she had like a long-term potassium imbalance, which most likely weakened her blood vessels, affected her heart rhythm, and then which may have triggered a stroke. Then

her brain didn't get enough oxygen, which led to brain cells dying, causing the permanent damage. Wild, huh? Now, the potassium imbalance thing, it's rare. It's rare that this happens, but it can happen. Just want to make that clear. So because of all this, this left Terry in a persistent vegetative state or PVS for short. Essentially, Terry was alive but was severe brain damage. She could breathe on her own, but she couldn't eat or drink or communicate or aging. So in order to survive, she needed a feeding tube. You know, Michael's by her side.

every day at the hospital, like hoping some kind of miracle is going to happen. She's going to come out of it. But for the time being, Michael was appointed Terry's legal guardian. And Terry's family didn't resist that idea at all. They fully supported it. He's the husband, you know, legal guardian. It made sense. So they were all on the same page, hoping for some kind of miracle recovery. And for the most part, though Michael was by her side every single day. So the first few years, years after the incident, Michael worked really hard to get Terry the best care possible. So eight months after she had collapsed, he found out about this experimental treatment. They were doing out in California at the University of California at San Francisco. What a name. University of California,

at San Francisco. So he finds out about this experimental treatment that they're doing over there, and it seems kind of promising. It's not like some cocko duty, like weird, whatever. It seemed pretty credible. She ends up qualifying for this treatment. They fly out there. They do the treatment, which is essentially they perform a surgery and they implant, will they put an implant in her brain, which would give off targeted electrical stimulation. Now, this was all like with the goal of restoring her awareness or her responsiveness. So Michael had said that he had offered to fly Terry out to California, you know, to be close to her daughter and just be supportive and there whatever. But she had declined. She was like, no, I'm okay. Like, I have too much stuff to take care

of. I have to take care of my husband and whatever. Like, I'm busy. She said no. And it was like, okay, girl. After the implant and months of hoping for positive results with this. implant, nothing happened, which must have been devastating. After this, like a lot of money had been spent because he had to fly out there. He had to take care of Terry by himself. He couldn't work. He was her main caretaker, right? So he's like, did this. I think they were out there for like six months to a year in California. And then that fails. So now he's like, okay, well, let's fly back to Florida to be closer to the family and like look for other treatments. So Michael and Terry went back to Florida where she would say.

stay at a rehabilitation center and she would receive at this place like 24 hour care. So she was there for a bit. But Michael was always on the lookout for better treatment options, different treatment options, something better for her. So Michael would have her move to another facility like a few months later where they had better like neurological testing and Terry would receive like regular and aggressive speech therapy and what's the other therapy? like where they move you. You get it. That therapy too.

They were known for like it for being good at this. Okay. So Michael's like, let's move her there. While she's there, at this point it's been like two years, I think. So time is going by and Terry is not making like any progress and also funds. I mean, it's expensive, right? In 1992, Michael ends up suing one of Terry's doctors for medical malpractice. And I was like, what? But remember when Terry in the beginning

went to the gynecologist? Yeah. Well, Michael sued that doctor because he said that that doctor should have asked more questions to find out about Terry's health. Because at this point, he had found out Terry hadn't had her period in a long time. Now he knew like she had an eating disorder. He felt like the doctor should have asked better questions to find out what was really going on with her. And whether you agree with that or not, it doesn't matter because he ended up winning. And he won about a million dollars. So Michael said that he put $750,000. He put that in a trust fund that was meant for Terry's medical care. Point and plain, period. And nobody else. Nothing else. It was only for Terry's care. And you're like,

wow, that's beautiful. Like, that's exactly how it should be. You know, I was waiting for, I personally, when I was reading this, I was waiting for Michael to do something shady, you know, he took the money and bought a Ferrari or something. He didn't. He put it in this trust fund. And I was like, wow, bravo, the bare minimum, but like, wow, that's really nice. But you know how it is. When money comes into the picture, what happens? You think people are nice? No. Things get ugly. So Michael, mind you, Michael's the one who's like decided to do all this. He didn't get any help from Terry's family. He's the one freaking doing it all. And when he was awarded all that money, Terry's family, they felt like they deserved part of the settlement. I mean, it was their daughter.

Michael refused, saying that the money was only going towards Terry's care. You do not get any of it. Like, it's only for Terry. But her family believed that Michael wanted it for himself. And tensions were building. And this is when all the drama starts. Seriously. It was like at this moment after he won this lawsuit, this is when everything, all this shit, hit the fan. So the family tried numerous times to legally get Michael removed as Terry's guardian. Why? Well, they couldn't think of any good reasons. So they just kind of like were throwing shit out there to see what stuck, you know? So initially they were like, oh, Michael's not the right fit. He's not taking care of her like he should be, you know? And they actually went to the courts to file this petition to have him removed. But the courts ended up dismissing the suit saying that Michael was treating Terry correctly as her legal guardian financially, her mentally, and just like her overall well-being. They're like, sorry. No.

Between 1992 and 1998, Michael bathed her. He fed her. He advocated for the best care for her. He was by her side every day. like he was not giving up on his wife. But Michael said as time was going on, it was becoming clear that Terry was not coming back. Doctors had confirmed with Michael that Terry had no meaningful brain activity. Like they weren't talking about a coma where she might wake up.

They were telling him that she had irreversible brain damage. And even like if a miracle did happen and she came back, she was not going to be the same. So in 1998, after years of therapy and treatment with no improvement, Michael said he made the painful decision to have Terry's feeding tube removed. I had been eight years. So he tells, I don't think he told Terry's family. I think the courts came back. I can't remember how they found out. But word got back to Terry's. family that Michael was thinking about doing this and Terry's family was not having it. They refused to believe that Terry was in a vegetative state. They clung on to every small movement, every

twitch. They were convinced it was 100% Terry responding. Terry's family had like they were fighting him at every turn. This wasn't a family disagreement. This was turning into now full blown war over Terry's body. You ever find yourself panicking because it's someone's birthday and you have zero idea what to get them? Giving gifts is so hard. Huh? What do you get someone? I don't know.

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And don't forget to support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. There's so much. many layers to this story and like terry's family was constantly taking michael into court trying to have him removed as the guardian and um at this like when he made this decision and uh the judge just kept denying so i was thinking well why didn't they the family just like take terry then my biggest struggle with this story is like there's so much to it i was really trying to make it easy to understand but I'm realizing that it's so hard.

It's so hard because at some point, Terry's family did try to take control of, like, helping Terry. When she first got sick, Terry and Michael had moved in with Terry's family and they had the bed in there and they were going to take care of Terry at home. But according to Michael, like in his book, the family just did not like help whatsoever. However. Everything fell on him and they showed no interest in helping with the daily responsibilities of Terry's care. And it was frustrating to him. So at some point, and this is where I got like, I couldn't figure out the timeline because according to the family, it was different from Michael's. But at some point, that's when Michael's like, okay, I got to take over and look out for Terry because her family just is not interested in her care. So they did try. they showed no interest. So Michael was like, well, if her own family's not going to look out for her and take care of her, then I'm going to be the one who's going to do it. And that's why he stepped up and he was like, I'm going to just be the main guy, whatever. And Terry's family didn't fight him on that. They're like, sure, you could be the guardian, her guardian. Because later on, when everything

starts coming out, they're like, just give us Terry, just give us Terry. And the reason, from my understanding Michael didn't is because of that situation. He saw that they were not interested in Terry in Terry's care. And it was like, dude, you guys aren't going to take care of her. Yeah, because I know at home we were thinking, well, why didn't he just like let the family have Terry for that reason alone? They were not interested. They were not interested. So at some point, Terry's family was like, give us, give us Terry. Let let us take care of her. The courts are like, fine. Like you, you can have Terry. But they never presented a formal plan. of care for Terry or demonstrated that they had their resources and ability to handle her 24-hour

needs. So they had an opportunity to present to the courts that they could take care of Terry on their own, but they never followed through. So that's why Michael was like, why they were mad at me? Like, you guys aren't even stepping up. I was reading these books. Like, what the, what the? So now after all these years, Michael's like, okay, I think it's time that we remove her feeding tube. It was a little irritating to him that all of a sudden now the family wants to step in and they care so much about Terry. Now for Michael at this point, Terry's funds were dwindling away because of the constant battles over Terry's care. I mean constant battles. The family was constantly taking Michael to court, saying that he was unfit.

And every time the court would send out like, you know, I don't know, I forget the job title where they would go out and like investigate to make sure that someone is doing what they're supposed to and taking care of this person. And every time the court came back saying like he's doing everything right, they even scanned through his financial report to make sure he wasn't doing anything shady with the financials. and they couldn't find anything, but the family would not give up. Now, mind you, during all of this, this is 98, Michael, this guy is unstoppable. He was working as a nursing assistant while attending St. Petersburg Junior College, while also being Terry's main caretaker. She was in a facility, so she had nurses and people like helping her 24 hours, but like when he wasn't working, he wasn't at school, he would be by Terry's side.

And when I was reading this in his book, in his book, I'm like, bro, how the hell are you doing that? I don't know. Now, according to Michael, that's when he met another woman. This is where I was like, ugh, not a good look. Okay, because he meets a woman, her name's Jody. He said for the first time in a really long time, he found someone that he could talk to about what was really going on. Like seriously, with Terry's care about like the family, the lawsuits, his future goals, school, you know, everything. So him and Jody just are growing really close.

She's really understanding and supportive of him. And he didn't have anyone in his life like that at this time. So yeah, they hit it off. They liked each other and they would start dating. When I was reading this in his book, I was like, oh, maybe you should have waited book. Okay, I'm like, I'm not judging, but okay. Terry's family finds out that Michael's dating another woman. Yep.

When they found this out, they were like, oh, see, he's being shady. He wants Terry's money. We have to do something about it. So Terry's family, they made new allegations about Michael neglecting Terry's care. I cannot emphasize this enough. By this point, the family had taken Michael to court. like 10 times, you know? And they kept losing. So from the year 2000 to 2005, the legal battles over Terry's life played out all over the media. You could not avoid it at this time. Now, the reason

the media had gotten involved is because Michael was going to remove the feeding tube. So Terry's family started talking to the media, to the public, and just really putting it out there what was going on. So that's why the media really got involved. Family sues, whatever. It's trying to stop the Michael from removing the feeding tube. And then in the year 2000, a Florida judge actually rules in Michael's favor saying that Terry's feeding tube could be removed. The court had heard testimony from multiple witnesses, including family members and medical experts. The court had found clear and convincing evidence that she would not have wanted to be kept alive on life support without hope of recovery. So the judge rules in Michael's favor, but the family filed a petition

to have this stopped. So literally it goes back and forth, back and forth. Judge says, okay, Michael, you can have the feeding tube removed, and then it gets put on hold because the family would file a motion, a petition, a loss, whatever, to stop that from happening. And this would continue for years. So once the media got a hold of this, it was everywhere. And this is when religious groups and right-to-life activists started to jump in. They were angry. They were calling it murder.

Certain activists saw Terry's case as a rallying point for promoting specific religious and political beliefs, like putting heavy pressure on politicians and judges to keep Terry alive specifically. You know, their fight was that. Every life should be protected. People would literally be outside of Michael's house, picketing with signs, calling him a murderer. The pictures are wild. There's even like kids, little kids, like who have to be like six or seven

and they're holding a sign that says, you are a murderer or something. It's like, oh my God, leave the kid out of it. I don't know. He was a lot. They'd be outside of his house every day calling him a murderer. He explained how he would get death threats every single day. His attorney, I watched this interview with his attorney, his attorney was like, oh, every day I would check under my car because people were constantly threatening to put a bomb like under my car and threatening to kill me. It was just wild.

It's so funny that the people who are like, you're a murderer, and then they put like a car bomb or something like they threaten you with murder. It's just kind of silly, isn't it? Anyways, so people are starting to get really aggressive, and they're getting loud. Terry still has her feeding tube in, and it's 2003. So with all this heavy pressure and media attention, Jeb Bush enters the picture. Do you know who Jeb Bush is? Well, he was Florida's governor at the time. He shows up.

So he pushed for something called Terry's Law, which gave him the authority to reinsert Terry's feeding tube. Yeah, Jeb Bush, who has nothing to do with the... this family at all, it gave him authority to put Terry's feeding tube back in. Kind of weird, right? I don't know. But in 2004, because the law moved slowly, so it's now 2004, the Supreme Court, they struck down Terry's law, calling it unconstitutional. So the battle continued.

Terry's case really became a lightning rod for ethical, moral, and political debate. It was everywhere. And, I mean, even the Pope got involved. Yeah, mm-hmm, like I said in the beginning, the Pope, Pope John Paul the second, gave a little statement, not even a statement. He put out on out like this whole, like, release, speaking out against removing Terry's feeding tube. The pulp. So, Pope, don't remove her feeding tube. Jeb Bush, don't remove her feeding tube, all the activists and stuff, don't remove her feeding tube.

There's tons and tons of people showing up outside of Michael's place, outside of Terry's, where Terry's staying. They're all there. Media, everyone, okay? It's wild. In 2005, the case escalated even further, this time to the federal government. So Congress passed a bill that led a federal court review Terry's case, and President George W. Bush made this whole performance out of it. he flew back from his vacation to sign Terry's law into law, declaring that the government should err on the side of life. But in the end, again, the federal court ruled against keeping

Terry on life support. It was unconstitutional. But again, because of all this back and forth, legalities of everything, it just really allowed everybody else to win to have Terry's feeding tube re-inserted and Michael really had no power. In the media, he was painted as just the devil. This devil man who wanted to just get rid of her and move on with his life. It was really sad, to be honest. So they remove her feeding tube. They put it back in. They remove it. They put it back in. They remove it. It's just like a lot. But in March 2005, federal judges upheld the Florida court's decisions and allowed removal of the feeding tube to stand. This time, for good. Now, to you and I, because we're sitting here and I'm telling you in this short video,

but remember, this was years and years and years. It had been five years since he made the decision to remove her feeding tube, and it turned into a whole show. The whole world was involved. Mind you, during this whole time, Michael was still by Terry's side. Yes, he was dating another woman. No, I don't think that was a good look, but he was. But he was still Terry's main caretaker and he was still like showing up every day taking care of her. Terry's feeding tube was ultimately removed for the last time on March 18, 2005. In the days that followed, Michael, his attorneys, friends, and some hospice staff. They took turns staying in Terry's room around the clock to make sure she was comfortable or she was okay, just being there with her. Terry's parents, they also visited for a short time, but they kept their distance from Michael. Michael and Terry's parents, they were not talking at all, at all. When Terry's parents left Terry's bedside, they would go right to the media and give updates about how Terry was, what was going on, and how awful

Michael was and just repeatedly insisting to the media that Terry was trying to convey that she wanted to live. Now, according to Michael, Terry never reacted to anyone in the room throughout the years or any loud voices because she remained unconscious and had no awareness. He was like, I don't know what they're talking about, but okay, you know? The one thing I will say is that Terry's parents, we were constantly talking to the media and all that stuff. Michael kept to himself. He rarely talked to the public, the media. He just stood by Terry's side.

It's like everybody hated him and he just did the right thing. And I know, for some reason, it's just like, I kept looking for something. Where did he fuck up? Where'd he fucking? You know, nothing. He was there. So outside the hospice where Terry was at, you know, there was over six. 600 people outside, including pro-life activists, religious groups.

There were children there who were on spring break. Some people like literally would just show up. They would pray, leave some flowers, whatever, you know, be quiet about, respectful. Others were just loud marching, chanting slogans, demanding Terry's feeding tube be put back in. National and even international media were at the hospice. And they also were outside of Michael's home. like on the sidewalk too so they're everywhere television cameras broadcasts nightly stories about the dispute between michael and terry's parents michael described it as an awful surreal experience

he said that not only was he dealing with the grief of losing his wife but also the relentless public spectacle that turned terry's final days into like a national political storm okay And then could you imagine on top of that, like, leaving your house, getting called a murderer and all these awful names? Poor guy. So police and security, they were all around the hospice. And at one point, they had to put the place on lockdown because protesters had jumped the barriers. What are they going to do? Like, come on, behave.

What are you doing? Michael had stayed by Terry's side until the very, very end. on March 31st, 2005, after 15 years, in a vegetative state, 15 years, Terry Schiavo passed away at the age of 41. Now, here's the part I wanted to know. I was like, everyone wants to know. Was she alive? Did she know what was going on?

You know, like, was she sending signs? We all just want to know. They did an autopsy after she died, which later confirmed that she had, profound, irreversible brain damage. Her brain was literally half the size of a normal brain. And on top of that, she was blind. She couldn't see. She wasn't looking at you. Sorry. She was, but like, she was blind. In the report, there was no signs of trauma. And the medical examiner concluded that she had no chance of recovery. When I saw the autopsy report that, like, oh, she was actually blind.

I was like, oh my God, because the family was like, yeah, she's communicating with us through her eyes. Like she's looking right at us. We can tell. Like she's, she was blind. So according to the autopsy, Terry could not have spoken, seen, or interacted with her environment, nor could she have experienced pain.

Overall, the medical examiner's findings, It had validated that Terry was in a permanent vegetative state and would not improve. Terry's parents continued fighting Michael even after her death. Yes. I mean, did we think it was going to get better now? They really did not want to have Terry cremated, but Michael went ahead and had her cremated. It was kind of like one of those things where it was like Terry's family was telling the media, we don't want her cremated.

And it was like, okay, but are you telling Michael this? Couldn't figure that out. It's whatever. So Michael had her cremated and they each family, Michael and Terry's family, they each had their own memorials for Terry. They couldn't even come together for her in the end. Like, it's just sad. Many of Terry's relatives and friends, they found themselves in a situation where it was

like they had to pick a side, you know? Just awful. Michael had held like a private gathering with clubs. friends, and it was really small, intimate, and then they had placed Terry's ashes at a family plot in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Terry's parents organized their own gatherings, plural gatherings, and prayer services in Florida. And, you know, they invited supporters from the pro-life community who had rallied around Terry's case and anyone who had rallied around them that was welcome to come. Michael, later on, he ended up remarrying. He and his partner,

or Jody. Remember Jody, the one he met for a while, a while back? They had been together at this point for many, many years. They had gotten married in 2006, and then they went on later on to like start a family. Honestly, he has lived a very private life. When he has given an interview, he's voiced his support of medical privacy. In the end, it was a decision that he had to make in his personal life and for some reason he couldn't understand why the whole world got involved you know he would explain in these interviews like that shouldn't happen to anyone right like no one else should have a say in choices that you have to make in your personal life was like what he was getting at he's always repeated that Terry would not have wanted this to be her life and he stood by that

Now, as for Terry's parents, Bob and Mary, plus Terry had siblings, which, again, I had to really condense this as much as I could. We can go on a whole other talk about them. But Terry had two siblings, a brother and a sister. The sister named Suzanne, you can't really find out much about her. She's a little... I don't know. Anyways, but her family, Bob, Mary, Bobby, and Suzanne. They together had founded the Terry Shivo, life. and Hope Network. So from their website, the Terry Shivo Life and Hope Network upholds human dignity through service to the medically vulnerable. On their website, they say that they express this mission through public advocacy of essential qualities of human dignity. I know, I was like, what does that mean? It's a lot of word. I don't know. Word vomit. I don't know. It just feels like word salad. I was like, what does that mean? They offer like protection against euthanasia as a form of medicine, they access to rehabilitative care, they have like a 24-7 crisis lifeline to help families who are servicing or helping at-risk patients. It's a foundation.

Terry's family said that they believed Terry was sent to them as a quote-unquote message about protecting human life in all circumstances. Okay, so that's like the, honestly, TLDR. That's the TLDR. But there's so much more. From a purely legal standpoint, the conclusion was that Terry's guardian and husband, Michael Shivo, had a valid right to follow what the courts accepted as Terry's end-of-life wishes based on clear and convincing evidence under Florida law. From a human and societal perspective, the controversy really just continued. Everything aside, this might sound like a really silly takeaway.

way, but this story highlighted the importance of having some form of a living will and slash or what is known as an advanced directive. I know. It feels silly, it feels like a silly takeaway or maybe like, well, she shouldn't have a will. No, no, no. Shush. I mean, it's the truth. There was a widely reported surge in a number of people creating or updating a living

will after the story hit media. With Terry's case, it just really served as a high profile example of what can happen if there are no end of life plans in place. Not saying that at 20 years old, your first thought is like, oh, I should get a will. Well, let me, you know, like, no. But knowing what we know now, you know, like it is, it's a good idea. Write it down. While Terry's life ended in 2005, the legacy of her case lives on in debates over government intervention, medical ethics, and how best to honor patients' wishes when they are no longer able to speak for themselves. That's technically the end, but there's a lot more. I mean, this story was something. Again, I read Michael's book and I read Terry's family's book. I wanted to

understand both sides and both of them are very different very different in michael's book the one thing i really liked about his book was that he brought the freaking receipts in his book he listed the doctors reports the autopsies the legal stuff like he was he brought it to the table and was like i tried my best okay you all painted me as the devil because the media 100% called michael the devil an evil murderer for years, and everybody thought that was the truth at the time. Here's some things. Here are some Bailey takeaway, some Bailey end notes. So people were calling Michael the devil, bad guy, villain, everything you could imagine.

Okay? It was sad. Terry's family, no receipts, just opinions, like, he sucked. It was really kind of like cringy. I was like, oh my God, you guys are making yourself real bad. my takeaway after all this because I wanted to hate Michael in the beginning. I did because I remember from a young age, like Michael was the bad, the husband was the bad guy is what I remembered. So when I was doing this story, I was like looking. I'm like, is he being shady with money? Is he having

multiple affairs? Whatever. And it was like, nothing. The only thing that was controversial was him dating that Jody girl. But do you blame him? It had been what? 10 years or something? at that point since he had a wife. Well, you know, companionship? But I felt like Michael really did the right thing. He did everything he could to take care of his wife. And I think a lot of people forgot or kept forgetting how young he was. He stepped up to the plate.

They were both, what, 26 when this happened? What were you doing at 26? You were a little shit. I know you were. Could you imagine having this life event happened to you? you and you having to step up to the plate at such a young age, you just got married and you're just trying to do right to your partner, the person who has expressed to you over and over again that they don't really like their parents and you saw firsthand that the parents aren't

involved. Like, I felt like Michael was constantly looking out for Terry and that's how you would want it to be, right? Honestly, I was like, Michael is a dream partner. He tried to everything you could to like find the right treatment for Terry and he did so for for a really really long time most people let's be real here most people would probably piece out after what i don't know i don't know a time frame but you know most people would piece out pretty quickly i feel like like for me for example if this were me if you were my partner i'm giving you a year and then i'm pulling the plug sorry baby i love you i love you but you get one year max Okay? I've never met someone who was like, hey, if I'm ever like in a vegetative state or on a ventilator, keep me alive. Have you met someone like that? Oh, you have? Okay, good for you. I haven't. Plus, this is America. Okay. Do you know how expensive it is to keep your ass hooked up? Well, bye. Bye. That'd be me. I mean, that makes me sound like, iconic line.

Well, bye. heart, heartless, but if I were my partner and I wouldn't want them to spend the rest, I mean, I'm sure they wouldn't want, I don't fucking know. It's so funny. It's like yesterday I was thinking this whole story through and I was like, dude, it's so clear, so easy. I'm just going to come in and be like, la, la, la, la, la. And now I'm all tongue-tied and having a hard time trying to like think of the right words to say, because I don't want to upset people. Because I think a lot of people got involved with the Terry Shyville case, at least from my understanding from Michael's perspective, he said people were really rallying to keep Terry.

alive because like the protesters that were coming forward had family members who maybe were in the same situation and they were saying so what you want me to get rid of my my loved one like they were making it about them and in all the interviews i watched there's only like two of michael he was like i respect people's beliefs thoughts whatever they want to believe he's like i respect that and you have the right to choose, right? He's like, but why are you forcing that on me? He just seemed genuinely confused. And I was like, yeah, I mean, he had to make a really tough decision in his personal life with someone that he really loved. And I think based off the receipts, it's clear, he tried really hard to try every option available to find Terry help get her in a better place. He

tried and he just knew Terry wouldn't want to live like this. I was reading Michael's book. It was honestly, it was very touching. I did get a little misty-eyed. I won't lie. Because I'm getting a little misty. He's just like he cared. That was his wife. Hold on, don't cry Bailey. That's embarrassing. A lot of people die here and this is the one you're going to cry over. I guess because it's rare in this in murder mystery history where it's like the husband. actually, or a partner actually stood up and like did the right thing. And I really think he did. I do. If you're interested to know more, I mean, I would say read his book. He, again, he brought all the receipts, not just like opinions. But the way he cared for Terry was really special.

Like, for instance, I didn't know where to put this in the story. He knew that Terry really cared about her appearance. So when she was in the hospital and stuff, Michael learned, how to do her hair and makeup because he said he just wanted her to feel like herself in this situation. I saw pictures of her in the hospital and he learned how to glam. He learned how to glam. He was clamming her up, gloss and all. I was like, oh my God. And it was sad because the media took that and they were like, look at him. He's trying to like make her this hot little thing for his own selfish reason because he doesn't like he they spend it on him and at first you want to think that but then you read his side of the story and you're like oh my god he was just trying to

make her feel like herself and he really tried to learn how to make her feel good in the situation she was in and i was like that is really special that was really special i just kind of felt like my takeaway here was like if i were ever in this situation I think Michael was a really good example of how you would hope your partner would be. He stepped up. He tried to find any kind of treatment he could. He tried for years. And when he realized it wasn't like a year later, it was what, almost 10 years later,

when he realized nothing was going to work, he made the tough decision to end his partner's life. whether you agree or disagree with his decision. I think the takeaway here is that it doesn't really matter. What matters is nobody should have a say on your own personal choice in your life, right? Wait, no, because people are going to be like, well, what if, blah, blah, blah. I mean, in this case specifically, it wasn't like this was a couple months later. He was like, pull the fucking tube. In an interview, Michael said that he could understand why people were passionate

and really cared about the story and stuff. And he went on to say, like, you know, they're allowed to have their own beliefs. But at the end of the day, it had nothing to do with him or his wife. And he wasn't telling anyone what to do with their loved ones. He was making a decision for himself and his wife and what would be best, nobody else. Nobody else, period. And I think that's the way it should be, right? I will say this.

One thing I think we all can agree on, something I agree on with Terry's family and something I actually didn't know until I started doing this story was that when your feeding tube gets removed or something, you don't die instantly. They take out your feeding tube and then they let you die naturally, which I think is awful. We have the kind courtesy to inject murderers on death row with something that will kill them in, what, five seconds or whatever? We have the courtesy to put an animal out of pain. I'm not saying, like, shoot them, but like, you know, you take them to the vent and they put them down. How come in this case, we don't have that same courtesy?

Like, that was the part I couldn't understand. I didn't know they take out your feeding tube and then it takes about 10 days for you to die. And you're just suffering for those 10 days until you die. That I can agree with Terry's family on. I don't think that should be allowed, right? I don't know. I just thought that was actually kind of shocking. I was like, oh, yeah, that would be really awful to watch.

Really awful. Because I thought it was like, oh, you're out, you're done. That's it. You die like five minutes later. No, 10 days of just suffering. During this time, you know, Michael had like removed the feeding tube. It got put back in. He had it removed.

And like this happened numerous times while it was going through the courts. And what would happen was that Terry's family when they would come to visit, they got caught trying to like feed Terry, trying to give her something. There was one specific occasion. And again, I just kind of figure out where to put this. and the story because all of it is such a mess. But there was one specific incident where Terry's family came to visit her, like, towards the end of the situation. And when they left, their nurses came in and saw that she,

Terry had fresh, like, puncture wounds on her arm, like they had injected her with something. So this sent, like, everybody on, like, red alert because what the fuck, right? So they were doing all these tests. They were trying to figure out, did they inject her with something? Or were they just trying to give her fluids or whatever? So then Michael had to get the family, like, blocked to not see her because they kept trying to give her fluids and all this stuff to keep her alive. Which at the same time, I understand their perspective.

If that's your kid, I'm sure you don't want to see them suffering and you're going to want to help them. I understand that. But Michael had to stop it. Okay. So he got a court order so the family couldn't see Terry anymore. And then, of course, they went to the media and they were like, Michael won't let us see her without acknowledging that perhaps they were maybe doing something not so great themselves. Like, it was so messy between the family. And I think the saddest part of all of it was like, poor fucking Terry.

In my personal opinion, I would bet 99.9% that she would have not wanted to be in that situation. and it's sad that she got paraded around like she did. Something about Terry was that she cared a lot about how she looked. That's at least how it was described over and over again. And it's like for a woman who cared so much about how she looked, the images that they were putting out there all over the media, could you imagine if she knew that they were doing that, right? Like that's just shallow, me being shallow.

But could you imagine that's how the whole world sees you? Not when you're doing well and like living a happy life. I don't think it's a controversial story. I just think like if you have to make this tough decision, I don't think anyone else should be involved in it. Of course, if a family member or someone thinks that you're doing something shady and wrong, I hope they would go to the courts and like fight you on this. But for the most part in like Michael's story, I don't, I feel like everyone did him real dirty.

Everyone did him really dirty. He's pretty private now, and I don't blame him. He's still to this day called a murderer. People after the fact have tried to make allegations that Michael was abusive, that he was responsible for her initial collapse. There was no proof or evidence, but this is something that is on the inner webs. So that is a story of Terry Shivo. If you have time and you're like wanting something like new to read,

You should read Michael's book. Really interesting. Really sad, but it's just interesting. You could also read Terry's, her family's book, and I think you would get a better understanding as to, like, why they just... Do they care about Terry? I don't know. I don't know.

I hope I did this story justice. In the end, talk to your partner about end-of-life wishes. I know. No one wants to talk about that. Write it down. If you can write a living well thing, have someone recorded on their phone. Okay, that way, if anything happens, you got the proof. The best way to do it, though, is to legally, like, get a will or whatever the fuck.

And nobody wants to think about these things, but Terry is like a awful example of, what can it go wrong? And it wasn't even about her. It was like the family wanting money, and it wasn't even about her in the end of it. it. Geez, you know? Poor Terry. Poor Terry. I hope this story made sense. You know, sometimes I struggle because, like, when I know a lot, it's like I want to say a lot, but it just can't come, it doesn't come out. Everything's jumbled. And I feel like that's how it was right now, but I hope this was good. It's complicated. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a, it was something. What did we learn a lot? Thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you

You have a wonderful rest of your day. You make your choices. But other than that, I'll be seeing you guys later. Bye.