Leslie,

Andrea passed away peacefully a little before 3pm
today, with her family and her friends at her bedside.
We love her so very much and we are going to miss her
terribly. We hope that the battle that we fought for
our sister will bring to light and bear witness to the
horrible acts committed in the name of ethics in
hospitals across the state of Texas.

The fact that we had to fight this battle is both
frightening and a sad commentary on the so-called
"ethics" now being practiced in medical facilities in
this state. The battle for life is a difficult one,
in the best of situations, but when a family is put
through what we had to go through at such a time, it
is especially agonizing.

We wish so much that we could have spent more time at
our sister's side, when she was living and fighting
for her life, rather than having to visit our
attorney's office, give interviews to radio and
television stations to let the public know of the
atrocity about to befall Andrea, and literally stand
outside the hospital and beg them not to kill our
sister. In attempting to deprive Andrea of the most
basic of her human rights--life--St. Luke's Hospital
managed to deprive her family and her of that which is
most dear to us all, when we are faced with the death
of a loved one: a proper goodbye.

How, in the name of God, anyone can call putting
someone to death when they are at their most helpless
and begging for their lives "ethical," we cannot
imagine.

Melanie Childers