Shaken infant kept on life support for 12 years

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/24/he-fought-through-so-much-child-dies-12-years-after-suffering-shaken-baby-syndrome/

This is a story from 2016 about an incident that occurred in 2004, so forgive me for sharing old news, but it's my first time hearing about it.

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So basically what happened is this proud papa bear shook his 4-month-old kid and it wound up with major brain damage. Duh, of course, denied doing this and claimed he found his son unconscious and that the kid choked on milk. Because as we all know, gagging on fluid causes skull fractures and brain hemorrhaging. A case report suggested possible signs of previous abuse and that there was evidence that the father threw the kid after shaking him too.

The diagnosis was that Junior was a vegetable due to shaken baby syndrome and would remain that way his entire life because the only part of his brain that wasn't damaged or dead was a small portion of the brain stem. Couldn't hear, see or move at all and zero chance of recovery.

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There was concern that the parents were only insisting on continuing life support indefinitely so Duh could avoid being charged with murder. So someone was appointed by the court to make the decision to end life support because they figured the parents only wanted life support to prevent Duh from getting a longer sentence. The parents won and life support continued.

So they kept him on life support for twelve freaking years. And here I thought Jahi McMath was a trendsetter, but these morons kept a brain dead infant on life support for over a decade! I'm kind of curious how the kid actually developed when sustained by a machine. Did he look like a normal 12-year-old at the time of death? From a scientific/biological standpoint, I'm so curious.

I love the headline in regard to the kid. "He fought through so much." No he didn't! He had zero awareness and therefore zero ability to "fight" anything. He was being kept alive artificially and would have died if left to his own devices, which is what should have fucking happened. Why are people allowed to do this shit where they keep dead people plugged in like refrigerators for years and years? Why not use that life support for someone who has an actual chance of recovering? I'm sorry if something happens to anyone that puts them on life support, but their families make decisions based on emotions and not logic and as cold as it sounds, I don't think the decision should be left to them unless they agree to pull the plug after a reasonable amount of time.

Anyway, the kid died, but no cause of death was ever published because nobody knew if he died of his injuries sustained at birth or of something else. The entire time, Duh not only maintained his innocence, but Moo backed him up. They even got engaged during this trial. But as we all know, PMYABP.

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Shit like this, which I know is far from uncommon (the shaken baby part at least) is why I think people should be heavily encouraged starting in sex ed to actually THINK about whether they want kids before having them. Destigmatize adoption, Safe Havens, and generally telling people you can't handle being a parent and want out. Make abortion and birth control free. Pour shitloads more money into social services so more kids can be taken from abusive parents. Explain in clear terms the real hardship that accompanies parenting instead of making it out to be a rosy, joyful experience. Make every single person who is considering breeding read r/breakingmom. Have teen boys and girls put in several hours of mandatory babysitting to get a first-hand feel for childcare. Anything to reduce the number of unfit people reproducing and then abusing or murdering their kids.

Another bad thing about this is that the child required nursing care even though he was not really alive, resources that could have been for a person who was actually living and could recover. Today, with Covid, health care professionals have to make decisions about who gets nursing resources, when those are limited.

Thom, could you help with what I am trying to say? Not sure how to word it.

I just can't get with that plan of mandatory babysitting for all teens. Think of how the CF ones would suffer.

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yurble
I just can't get with that plan of mandatory babysitting for all teens. Think of how the CF ones would suffer.

I know, and I would have hated it too - I didn't take home ec. specifically because I didn't want to deal with the crying baby doll. But if you just said "only the ones who want to have kids need to babysit," everyone would just say they didn't want any to get out of it. Except for maybe one or two doe-eyed teen girls who think a baby will fix all their problems.

Still, it's a shame teens couldn't have some kind of exposure to childcare to show them what to expect early on. The crying baby dolls don't count either because all you have to do to shut them up is stick a key in their backs. If it were that easy with real loaves, I'm pretty sure the parents would have the key surgically implanted at birth.

This poor kid was basically forced to live in a vegetative state for 12 years. That sounds like abuse to me.
Wonder if COVID may cause some of these vegetative state people to be removed from life support? I'd imagine there are more out there than this.

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Cambion

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yurble
I just can't get with that plan of mandatory babysitting for all teens. Think of how the CF ones would suffer.

I know, and I would have hated it too - I didn't take home ec. specifically because I didn't want to deal with the crying baby doll. But if you just said "only the ones who want to have kids need to babysit," everyone would just say they didn't want any to get out of it. Except for maybe one or two doe-eyed teen girls who think a baby will fix all their problems.

I like the idea of mandatory babysitting for all teens (it may just be the reality hit needed to change a few minds) but also hate the idea of the CF suffering through it.
I totally see this happening on masse because very few teenagers have interest in crying baby dolls. I knew I'd fail (or barely pass) the class by opting out of the crying baby doll so I didn't take it. Art was a much better elective.

As we all know, common sense is going the way of the Dodo Bird in the USA.

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Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

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mr. neptune
Another bad thing about this is that the child required nursing care even though he was not really alive, resources that could have been for a person who was actually living and could recover. Today, with Covid, health care professionals have to make decisions about who gets nursing resources, when those are limited.

Thom, could you help with what I am trying to say? Not sure how to word it.

Triage - mostly associated with mass casualty incidents. But in mass disaster resources will be focused on those with the chance for best outcome.

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“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

The "he fought through so much" thing is sad because it's false, but people want to believe it. They want to see the victim as a li'l fighter, so they can see a heart-warming side of what is really a horrific, 12-year-long murder attempt. It's like those stories about plucky little kids who sell lemonade to raise money for their dad's insulin. Instead of "aww, that's so cool!" the response should be outrage that the kid had to fucking sell lemonade so that maybe their dad could get the medical care he needs to survive. Same thing here. He's NOT a fighter, he had nothing left to fight WITH, and even if he did, let's look at the real problem: his monster of a father who reduced him to a vegetable.