In an intense life-and-death tug-of-war reminiscent of the Terri Schiavo case, the fate of Ora Mae Magouirk is still raging, despite the transfer Saturday of the 81-year-old widow to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center in Birmingham for treatment of an aorta dissection.
In the latest twist to the saga, Magouirk's granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, of LaGrange, Ga, who is also her temporary guardian, barred immediate next-of-kin from visiting the stricken woman. No explanation was given, nor were the relatives notified.
When Magouirk's brother, A.B. McLeod, 64, of Anniston, Ala., attempted to visit Magouirk Sunday, the charge nurse said an order had been given not to allow him or his sister, Lonnie Ruth Mullinax, 74, of Birmingham, to visit their sister. The nurse refused to reveal the source of the order or even if it were written or verbal, and had McLeod escorted from the premises.
"We're just flabbergasted," McLeod told WorldNetDaily. "We don't know what to think. Why not let me see her? What's the big deal?"
Yesterday, McLeod finally learned through his attorneys that Gaddy had indeed given verbal instructions to the staff at UAB to deny him, his sister Lonnie Ruth, or his nephew Kenneth Mullinax, 45, of Birmingham, permission to visit their sister and aunt.
Moreover, the hospital staff is forbidden to give them any information about Magouirk's condition. Even her physician, cardiologist Dr. Raed Aqel, who is also treating Ruth Mullinax's aortic dissection and is McLeod's physician as well, cannot reveal how their sister is faring since her admission to UAB.
read more (this is a lengthy but highly informative article)
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