Businessman offers $1m to keep coma woman alive

A BUSINESSMAN has offered one million dollars to keep alive a brain-damaged Florida woman at the centre of a court battle.

Robert Herring said he would pay Terri Schiavo’s husband Michael the money if he transfers the legal right to decide his wife’s medical treatment to her parents, who oppose removing a feeding tube keeping the woman alive.

The offer will remain on the table until Monday, Mr Herring said.

Michael Schiavo has obtained a court order to remove the feeding tube on March 18 and Mr Herring said he felt “compelled to act” before then.

He added he has had no contact with Michael Schiavo or Terri Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and was not affiliated with any organisation involved in the case.

“There are medical advances happening around the globe that very shortly could have a positive impact on Terri’s condition. I have seen miraculous recoveries occur through the use of stem cells in patients suffering a variety of conditions,” Mr Herring said.

He has deposited the money into a trust account.

Some doctors say Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state, with no consciousness. She suffered brain damage in 1990 after her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder.

Her parents and her husband have fought in court for nearly seven years over her fate. Florida Governor Jeb Bush in 2003 pushed a law through state legislature that authorised him to resume the woman’s artificial feeding six days after a court stopped it. The law was later ruled unconstitutional.