A situation is unfolding in Canada that is similar to the case of Terri Schiavo, the patient who was starved and dehydrated to death in Florida several years ago.
Joshua Kulendran Mayandy, a Sri Lankan native and Pentecostal pastor at Humberlea Worship Centre in Etobicoke, suffered a heart attack and brain damage May 29. He was in a coma but came out of it and has improved. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) tells OneNewsNow Mayandy has no family, no written instructions on what to do, and no power-of-attorney agreement that could effect those decisions.
"So the court then chose someone to make decisions for him, and the person who he had chosen had originally agreed that...he would go along with the hospital's wishes, which was no medical treatment, including no IV fluids, foods or medicines at all," Schadenberg reports.
That means that food and fluids are considered a part of medical treatment. However, members of the pastor's church agreed the hospital's decision was contrary to Mayandy's wishes. The situation changed once the EPC got involved.
"The substitute decision-maker agreed to allow a nurse, who is part of the church, to come in every day and feed Pastor Mayandy, so that has begun and it's still continuing," the EPC executive director explains.
He goes on to point out that the decision to restore food and water came after the hospital received thousands of calls protesting the removal of food and water. Schadenberg cautions that the situation is not over yet because the substitute decision-maker could change course again.
Meanwhile, the pastor is now able to swallow, and Schadenberg reports that he is otherwise healthy and could go on to live many years.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Date Published: September 2, 2010
