A Texas woman who was taken off life support against the wishes of her family has managed to survive almost 48 hours without a ventilator.
Carolyn Jones had her life-saving treatment withdrawn May 13 after medics invoked the 10-day rule, a Texas directive that allows doctors to stop medical treatment if they deem it futile.
Now, the Jones family is embroiled in a frantic scramble to raise enough money for a life-saving hospital transfer — according to Texas Right to Life, the family has 72 hours to come up with $50,000.
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“Carolyn is still breathing without the respirator, but the hospital is not celebrating that reality with us,” pro-life advocate Mark Dickson told Faithwire Wednesday. Dickson, who is campaigning on behalf of the family, noted that daughter Kina made yet another request of the medical team to help her ill-stricken mother, only to be denied once again.
Kina “asked if a doctor was willing to step forward and provide dialysis to save Carolyn’s life,” Dickson said, noting that “the risk management manager at the hospital said that she did not care and that they did not have to do anything because they invoked the 10 Day Rule on Carolyn.”
Dickson noted that there is “a lot of money that is having to be raised and exchanged for various services to save the life of Carolyn Jones.”
Texas Right to Life urged that “without your help now, major bureaucratic and financial hurdles could lead to Carolyn’s unjust and early demise.”
“Your gift will help get Carolyn out of a hospital that wants her dead,” the group added.
Family believes Carolyn is responding to requests
Despite suffering a huge stroke, the family is hopeful that Carolyn could one day recover. In a video shared with Faithwire by Dickson, Carolyn’s daughter, Kina Jones, can be heard asking her mother to “give me another yawn.” A few seconds later, Carolyn does exactly that.
Arguably, this shows that the sick woman is able to understand and respond to instructions.
What is the 10-Day Rule?
The Texas Advance Directives Act (1999), known colloquially as the “Texas Futile Care Law” or “10-Day Rule” is a directive which allows health care facilities to discontinue life-sustaining treatment ten days after giving written notice to the family.
Treatment can only be withdrawn only if medical teams can prove that it has become completely futile. If the patient is unable to arrange a transfer to a different hospital for treatment in the allotted 10 days, then medical care is withdrawn.
Texas State Senate member, Republican Bryan Hughes, is currently trying to repeal the directive.