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Tanya
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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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 Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 1:37 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for posting that Tanya. I thought I'd copy the text here.
| Quote: | Schiavo tragedy hits home for Jay
Coach reveals how he's living through similar ordeal
By BOB ELLIOTT -- Toronto Sun
Like most people, Dennis Holmberg followed coverage of the Terry Schiavo life-and-death battle on TV. Unlike everyone else, Holmberg -- a long-time Blue Jays coach and minor-league manager -- almost lived through a similar experience. His wife Diane was broadsided by a teenaged driver in an early morning car accident in Liverpool, N.Y., near Syracuse in June of 1985.
Dennis was in Pawtucket, R.I., coaching the triple-A Syracuse Chiefs when he received the call from a state trooper.
He cabbed to Boston, missed his plane and didn't arrive at the Upstate Medical Centre until 9 p.m.
Dennis walked into the room to see Diane, the love of his life and mother of their two children, in traction wearing a halo. She had a broken hip, severe trauma to the left temporal lobe and a depressed skull fracture.
"You'd have liked to walk in and see a broken leg," Holmberg said yesterday. "Diane couldn't speak. She was lifeless."
TIME WILL TELL
Dr. Robert King told Dennis that "only time will tell."
"Diane looked as Terry Schiavo did," Holmberg said. "I could show you photos. They look so much alike."
Like Terry, Diane's hands were clamped in a rigid manner.
"Every time I watch it on TV, I think of Diane," he said. "Terry was a very young, energetic, beautiful person and so was Diane. It was a flashback."
Now, at 51, Diane is in Norwalk, Conn., with a feeding tube in her stomach.
She was on her way to teach bible school at the Eastern Hills Church with daughter Brianne, 5, and Kenny, 2, in the car the day of the accident.
"You ask yourself why," Dennis said. He doesn't answer because there isn't any answer. "I was going to call her, but I went to the post office and then to eat.
"What if I'd called her? You wonder: What if she left 10 minutes later? Then I start thinking why didn't I call?"
Rescue workers used the jaws of life to remove Diane from the car.
"I can't imagine what kind of trauma or what images went through the minds of the kids," Dennis said.
Diane's parents, Lillian and Nardin Duncan, he a retired NYPD detective, rushed to Syracuse, from Dunedin; as did Diane's brothers brothers Jimmy and Ricky, of Wilton, Conn.; Dennis' mother Opal, from Georgia, his sister Diane from New Jersey and his brother David, a Florida policeman.
"I was at the hospital 24/7 for a while," Dennis said. "The doctor said I was in for a long haul. Diane hadn't moved a finger, hadn't opened her eyes."
Doctors eventually told him to return to coaching.
Later that year, Diane was airlifted to Davis Island in Tampa.
"After four or five months without progress, a doctor told us there may have been brain stem damage. Either it had been stretched or torn," he remembers. "That was a first. We told him he was wrong."
Diane was moved to Mediplex in Bradenton, Fla. One day in 1986, Dennis placed Diane in the wheelchair and phoned her mom from the pay phone. He said: "Say hi to mom."
Diane said hi. Dennis said say: "I love you." Diane said the three little words.
That was a major breakthrough. Dennis would say "row, row ..." and Diane would answer "row your boat." She would smile watching Happy Days.
Diane couldn't express her own thoughts, but could repeat those expressed by others. That stage in Diane's recovery stayed a while, but never improved.
"We felt like Diane was like a genie trapped in a bottle, taking in more, but unable to speak," Dennis says.
The Jays allowed Dennis to be a stay-at-home coach, rather than serving elsewhere. He was a coach from 1987-89 at Dunedin and managed the Dunedin team from 1990-93. He became Toronto's bullpen coach in 1994 and '95 under Cito Gaston.
"As tough as this managing is, I'd have been worse off, working 9-to-5, feeling sorry for myself," says Dennis who often made the trip to Bradenton to visit her.
Diane's parents made the 50-mile drive every day, that is until 1992 when Diane's father had a heart attack driving over the Skyway bridge. That's when son Jimmy stepped in and moved everyone to Connecticut.
Diane's mom passed away two years ago, but her father still visits every day. Dennis will manage single-A Auburn this summer.
A LOVE AFFAIR
The love affair with Diane began at a baseball game. Dennis was coaching Dunedin on Aug. 2, 1978, when the P.A. announcer told the crowd it was his birthday. He heard singing and it was his landlord's grandsons and a woman he'd never seen before --Diane, also a tenant -- singing Happy Birthday.
"It was," Dennis said almost 27 years later, "love at first sight."
Dennis had managed four years in single-A Florence and in 1985, his first year at triple-A, he was thinking like a player: One step away.
"My first concern after Diane was the kids," he said. "They needed a parent, someone to wake up to, to fix them breakfast and tuck them in at night."
Dennis admits it was easier to be a father to Kenny, than a mother to Brianne but says "both turned out to be good kids."
Brianne now works in a beauty salon in Pittsburgh, Kenny plays shortstop for the Embry-Riddle University Eagles.
Dennis says he'll always be indebted to the Syracuse owners Tex and John Simone, their fans.
"Three days before the accident, Diane said to me: 'Dennis if anything happens to me, make sure the kids get a good Christian education," he remembers. "I said: 'Diane, nothing's going to happen to you.'" |
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Tanya
Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 570
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Fort Campbell
Vice Admiral
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 896
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:59 am Post subject: |
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| Rdtf wrote: | Thanks for posting that Tanya. I thought I'd copy the text here.
| Quote: | Schiavo tragedy hits home for Jay
Coach reveals how he's living through similar ordeal
By BOB ELLIOTT -- Toronto Sun
Like most people, Dennis Holmberg followed coverage of the Terry Schiavo life-and-death battle on TV. Unlike everyone else, Holmberg -- a long-time Blue Jays coach and minor-league manager -- almost lived through a similar experience. His wife Diane was broadsided by a teenaged driver in an early morning car accident in Liverpool, N.Y., near Syracuse in June of 1985.
Dennis was in Pawtucket, R.I., coaching the triple-A Syracuse Chiefs when he received the call from a state trooper.
He cabbed to Boston, missed his plane and didn't arrive at the Upstate Medical Centre until 9 p.m.
Dennis walked into the room to see Diane, the love of his life and mother of their two children, in traction wearing a halo. She had a broken hip, severe trauma to the left temporal lobe and a depressed skull fracture.
"You'd have liked to walk in and see a broken leg," Holmberg said yesterday. "Diane couldn't speak. She was lifeless."
TIME WILL TELL
Dr. Robert King told Dennis that "only time will tell."
"Diane looked as Terry Schiavo did," Holmberg said. "I could show you photos. They look so much alike."
Like Terry, Diane's hands were clamped in a rigid manner.
"Every time I watch it on TV, I think of Diane," he said. "Terry was a very young, energetic, beautiful person and so was Diane. It was a flashback."
Now, at 51, Diane is in Norwalk, Conn., with a feeding tube in her stomach.
She was on her way to teach bible school at the Eastern Hills Church with daughter Brianne, 5, and Kenny, 2, in the car the day of the accident.
"You ask yourself why," Dennis said. He doesn't answer because there isn't any answer. "I was going to call her, but I went to the post office and then to eat.
"What if I'd called her? You wonder: What if she left 10 minutes later? Then I start thinking why didn't I call?"
Rescue workers used the jaws of life to remove Diane from the car.
"I can't imagine what kind of trauma or what images went through the minds of the kids," Dennis said.
Diane's parents, Lillian and Nardin Duncan, he a retired NYPD detective, rushed to Syracuse, from Dunedin; as did Diane's brothers brothers Jimmy and Ricky, of Wilton, Conn.; Dennis' mother Opal, from Georgia, his sister Diane from New Jersey and his brother David, a Florida policeman.
"I was at the hospital 24/7 for a while," Dennis said. "The doctor said I was in for a long haul. Diane hadn't moved a finger, hadn't opened her eyes."
Doctors eventually told him to return to coaching.
Later that year, Diane was airlifted to Davis Island in Tampa.
"After four or five months without progress, a doctor told us there may have been brain stem damage. Either it had been stretched or torn," he remembers. "That was a first. We told him he was wrong."
Diane was moved to Mediplex in Bradenton, Fla. One day in 1986, Dennis placed Diane in the wheelchair and phoned her mom from the pay phone. He said: "Say hi to mom."
Diane said hi. Dennis said say: "I love you." Diane said the three little words.
That was a major breakthrough. Dennis would say "row, row ..." and Diane would answer "row your boat." She would smile watching Happy Days.
Diane couldn't express her own thoughts, but could repeat those expressed by others. That stage in Diane's recovery stayed a while, but never improved.
"We felt like Diane was like a genie trapped in a bottle, taking in more, but unable to speak," Dennis says.
The Jays allowed Dennis to be a stay-at-home coach, rather than serving elsewhere. He was a coach from 1987-89 at Dunedin and managed the Dunedin team from 1990-93. He became Toronto's bullpen coach in 1994 and '95 under Cito Gaston.
"As tough as this managing is, I'd have been worse off, working 9-to-5, feeling sorry for myself," says Dennis who often made the trip to Bradenton to visit her.
Diane's parents made the 50-mile drive every day, that is until 1992 when Diane's father had a heart attack driving over the Skyway bridge. That's when son Jimmy stepped in and moved everyone to Connecticut.
Diane's mom passed away two years ago, but her father still visits every day. Dennis will manage single-A Auburn this summer.
A LOVE AFFAIR
The love affair with Diane began at a baseball game. Dennis was coaching Dunedin on Aug. 2, 1978, when the P.A. announcer told the crowd it was his birthday. He heard singing and it was his landlord's grandsons and a woman he'd never seen before --Diane, also a tenant -- singing Happy Birthday.
"It was," Dennis said almost 27 years later, "love at first sight."
Dennis had managed four years in single-A Florence and in 1985, his first year at triple-A, he was thinking like a player: One step away.
"My first concern after Diane was the kids," he said. "They needed a parent, someone to wake up to, to fix them breakfast and tuck them in at night."
Dennis admits it was easier to be a father to Kenny, than a mother to Brianne but says "both turned out to be good kids."
Brianne now works in a beauty salon in Pittsburgh, Kenny plays shortstop for the Embry-Riddle University Eagles.
Dennis says he'll always be indebted to the Syracuse owners Tex and John Simone, their fans.
"Three days before the accident, Diane said to me: 'Dennis if anything happens to me, make sure the kids get a good Christian education," he remembers. "I said: 'Diane, nothing's going to happen to you.'" |
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Interesting article. Does anyone know if Dennis Holmberg has remained celibate for the entire 20 year's of his wife's PVS? If not would that change your perception of him? |
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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Fort Campbell wrote: | | Rdtf wrote: | Thanks for posting that Tanya. I thought I'd copy the text here.
| Quote: | Schiavo tragedy hits home for Jay
Coach reveals how he's living through similar ordeal
By BOB ELLIOTT -- Toronto Sun
Like most people, Dennis Holmberg followed coverage of the Terry Schiavo life-and-death battle on TV. Unlike everyone else, Holmberg -- a long-time Blue Jays coach and minor-league manager -- almost lived through a similar experience. His wife Diane was broadsided by a teenaged driver in an early morning car accident in Liverpool, N.Y., near Syracuse in June of 1985.
Dennis was in Pawtucket, R.I., coaching the triple-A Syracuse Chiefs when he received the call from a state trooper.
He cabbed to Boston, missed his plane and didn't arrive at the Upstate Medical Centre until 9 p.m.
Dennis walked into the room to see Diane, the love of his life and mother of their two children, in traction wearing a halo. She had a broken hip, severe trauma to the left temporal lobe and a depressed skull fracture.
"You'd have liked to walk in and see a broken leg," Holmberg said yesterday. "Diane couldn't speak. She was lifeless."
TIME WILL TELL
Dr. Robert King told Dennis that "only time will tell."
"Diane looked as Terry Schiavo did," Holmberg said. "I could show you photos. They look so much alike."
Like Terry, Diane's hands were clamped in a rigid manner.
"Every time I watch it on TV, I think of Diane," he said. "Terry was a very young, energetic, beautiful person and so was Diane. It was a flashback."
Now, at 51, Diane is in Norwalk, Conn., with a feeding tube in her stomach.
She was on her way to teach bible school at the Eastern Hills Church with daughter Brianne, 5, and Kenny, 2, in the car the day of the accident.
"You ask yourself why," Dennis said. He doesn't answer because there isn't any answer. "I was going to call her, but I went to the post office and then to eat.
"What if I'd called her? You wonder: What if she left 10 minutes later? Then I start thinking why didn't I call?"
Rescue workers used the jaws of life to remove Diane from the car.
"I can't imagine what kind of trauma or what images went through the minds of the kids," Dennis said.
Diane's parents, Lillian and Nardin Duncan, he a retired NYPD detective, rushed to Syracuse, from Dunedin; as did Diane's brothers brothers Jimmy and Ricky, of Wilton, Conn.; Dennis' mother Opal, from Georgia, his sister Diane from New Jersey and his brother David, a Florida policeman.
"I was at the hospital 24/7 for a while," Dennis said. "The doctor said I was in for a long haul. Diane hadn't moved a finger, hadn't opened her eyes."
Doctors eventually told him to return to coaching.
Later that year, Diane was airlifted to Davis Island in Tampa.
"After four or five months without progress, a doctor told us there may have been brain stem damage. Either it had been stretched or torn," he remembers. "That was a first. We told him he was wrong."
Diane was moved to Mediplex in Bradenton, Fla. One day in 1986, Dennis placed Diane in the wheelchair and phoned her mom from the pay phone. He said: "Say hi to mom."
Diane said hi. Dennis said say: "I love you." Diane said the three little words.
That was a major breakthrough. Dennis would say "row, row ..." and Diane would answer "row your boat." She would smile watching Happy Days.
Diane couldn't express her own thoughts, but could repeat those expressed by others. That stage in Diane's recovery stayed a while, but never improved.
"We felt like Diane was like a genie trapped in a bottle, taking in more, but unable to speak," Dennis says.
The Jays allowed Dennis to be a stay-at-home coach, rather than serving elsewhere. He was a coach from 1987-89 at Dunedin and managed the Dunedin team from 1990-93. He became Toronto's bullpen coach in 1994 and '95 under Cito Gaston.
"As tough as this managing is, I'd have been worse off, working 9-to-5, feeling sorry for myself," says Dennis who often made the trip to Bradenton to visit her.
Diane's parents made the 50-mile drive every day, that is until 1992 when Diane's father had a heart attack driving over the Skyway bridge. That's when son Jimmy stepped in and moved everyone to Connecticut.
Diane's mom passed away two years ago, but her father still visits every day. Dennis will manage single-A Auburn this summer.
A LOVE AFFAIR
The love affair with Diane began at a baseball game. Dennis was coaching Dunedin on Aug. 2, 1978, when the P.A. announcer told the crowd it was his birthday. He heard singing and it was his landlord's grandsons and a woman he'd never seen before --Diane, also a tenant -- singing Happy Birthday.
"It was," Dennis said almost 27 years later, "love at first sight."
Dennis had managed four years in single-A Florence and in 1985, his first year at triple-A, he was thinking like a player: One step away.
"My first concern after Diane was the kids," he said. "They needed a parent, someone to wake up to, to fix them breakfast and tuck them in at night."
Dennis admits it was easier to be a father to Kenny, than a mother to Brianne but says "both turned out to be good kids."
Brianne now works in a beauty salon in Pittsburgh, Kenny plays shortstop for the Embry-Riddle University Eagles.
Dennis says he'll always be indebted to the Syracuse owners Tex and John Simone, their fans.
"Three days before the accident, Diane said to me: 'Dennis if anything happens to me, make sure the kids get a good Christian education," he remembers. "I said: 'Diane, nothing's going to happen to you.'" |
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Interesting article. Does anyone know if Dennis Holmberg has remained celibate for the entire 20 year's of his wife's PVS? If not would that change your perception of him? |
PLEASE stop trying to incite a debate over this issue. I am continually offended by your postings. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CELEBACY. Haven't we all been clear on that? I am sorry that you still don't understand why the Schiavo case was considered torture and murder to most all of us here, but enough is enough. |
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Fort Campbell
Vice Admiral
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 896
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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Dissenting opinions are not allowed?
OK
God Speed |
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Guest
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Fort Campbell wrote: | Dissenting opinions are not allowed?
OK
God Speed |
Dissenting opinions? I do not think so. WE wish you God's speed and blessings.
The crux of the matter is that the Judges themselves broke the law. Are you aware or do you even care that the Fl. State Laws stipulate that when there is no living will or written directives by the said person they are to rule and err on the side of life. Terri did not have anything written down as far as a living will or a directive. That is the crux of the matter. Judges ruled on he said/she said. They broke the law. That is why the congress will impeach these Justices and for also ignoring a congressional supeona. Judges are to uphold the law, not change it, interpret it, or ignore it. That is the problem here. |
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