Haleigh Poutre speaks
I’ve written thousands and thousands of blog posts over the year and 16 years’ worth of newspaper columns. Some of the stories enter your heart and never leave. Haleigh Poutre’s story was one of those stories.
Longtime readers will remember Haleigh from two years ago. She was the 11-year-old girl in Massachusetts who had been hospitalized after her stepfather allegedly burned her and beat her nearly to death with a baseball bat. Haleigh, in a coma, was kept alive by a feeding tube and ventilator. Doctors said she was “virtually brain dead” — in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. The Massachusetts Department of Social Services wanted to remove Haleigh’s feeding and breathing tubes. They called her “hopeless.” They called her condition “irreversible.”
As they moved to pull the plug, a miracle happened: She started breathing on her own.
Her case revealed massive, dangerous bureaucratic incompetence and the fallibility of the medical establishment.
Now, the Boston Herald reports that Haleigh Poutre–who turned 14 on Sunday–is now speaking about the unimaginable abuse she suffered:
Defying all odds, the brain-damaged Westfield girl who was days away from a state order to remove her from life support in 2006 is now communicating information about the horrific abuse that nearly killed her, according to new court documents.
Although once thought to be brain-dead, Haleigh Poutre, who turned 14 on Sunday, is now ‘making statements alleging abuse” by her stepfather Jason Strickland, according to a motion filed in Hampden Superior Court last month by Strickland’s attorney, Alan Black of Springfield.
Haleigh is recovering at a Brighton rehabilitation hospital, where her condition has reportedly vastly improved since the legal battle over her life captured national headlines in 2006.
Haleigh was beaten into a coma Sept. 11, 2005, allegedly at the hands of Strickland and his wife, Holli Strickland, Haleigh’s adoptive mother and biological aunt.
Black’s motion indicates that a 51A concerning Haleigh has been forwarded to him by Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett. A 51A is a report of abuse or neglect that can be filed with the Department of Social Services.
“This creates issues concerning competency and (Haleigh’s) ability to testify and recall events in light of her severe head trauma,” Black wrote in the motion that requests a new trial schedule be set so he has time to review the information and hire experts.
Bennett is not commenting on the case against Strickland.
Eight days after Haleigh’s near-fatal beating, DSS sought a court order allowing Haleigh to be removed from life support. Jason Strickland objected, but in January 2007, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that DSS could remove Haleigh from life support. The next day, DSS announced that Haleigh was breathing on her own, and it had halted plans to remove her feeding tube.
News reports last year indicated that Haleigh could eat, write her name and flex muscles - all activities that doctors once said would never be possible.
As I’ve noted before, there is a powerful institutional motive for covering up Haleigh’s progress.
Don’t forget her.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Haleigh Poutre speaks to the Incompetence of the Bureaucracy that Murdered Terri Schiavo | Pierre Legrand's Pink Flamingo Bar
- Shock & Blog - An awesome update on Haleigh Poutre
- Haleigh Poutre Speaks « Something should go here, maybe later.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Categories: End of life issues, Haleigh Poutre
Stop The ACLU
» Obama’s Approval Ratings Tank, But Media Still Love HimNewsBusters.org
» Top Press Secretly Parties With Obama on Fourth of JulyRiehl World View
» Palin In Iowa? Watch The Heads Explode!Pundit & Pundette
» Obama's drop in popularity and Michelle's handbag controversyPundit & Pundette
» Is the tide turning?Riehl World View
» The Three Stooges Now Appearing At HuffPoSister Toldjah
» Quote of the Day – from Carol Browner, climate-czar
Amen.
That pretty much says it all.
God bless Haleigh and God bless you Michelle for keeping us updated on this poor girls story.
MIRACLES HAPPEN!
Thank you for the update Michelle! It just goes to prove my theory of where there is life there is hope. She will be kept on our family prayer list asking the good Lord for a full recovery from the abuse she has suffered.
How tragic! Thank God she could breathe on her own! Now if only she could put those adoptive parents of hers in jail!
I have not been an MM reader for long - only since November or so. It’s no surprise that I never heard this story in the news, this is the first I’ve seen on this tragedy. Why wouldn’t the MSM want to report about the tragedy of abusive parents and the wonderful miracle of a child coming out of a coma?
God didn’t forget her. He had her angels looking after her the entire time. What a wonderful story on her recovery. Hope she gets justice for what happened to her.
L
Always welcome good news. Being in the medical field, I know that patients can beat the odds…long odds at that. I don’t know her doctors so I can’t say what was going on. Modern medicine isn’t all that old. Before the late 1800s it was pretty much stagnant. I’m very happy to see Haleigh making it. She got a miracle for sure. Now, if she can put all that horror behind her, someday.
Forget jail… How about beating them into comas?
Michelle, thank you for your Haleigh Poutre story. It made me cry. I don’t know if I’m happy or sad and I don’t know if my tears are for Haleigh, or myself, or all of us.
May God continue to help her in her recovery. And may justice be done, may the evil done to her be punished here on Earth (I know it will be taken care of, elsewhere).
She proves that she was not the brain-dead one. I doubt her improvement makes any impression on the soulless brain-dead bureaucracy who wanted to “pull the plug” and expected her to die.
Were there no charges filed against the Sticklands before now?It seems to me that charges should have been filed and the bas****s executed before now.BTW,does anyone know if murder charges can be filed against someone who causes such injuries as to put the victem into a constant vegetive state?If not there should be.
How effing sick do you have to be to take a baseball bat to a child?
20 years ago, before Communism and real Reporters (Not Political hacks for the Democrap Party) existed… this story would have been shown for a week on front pages, and every network would lead in with this story for days.
Not anymore… because this story shows a divine power exists in this universe, and that the liberal mind set of we are nothing but a big pile of Amino Acids that “Accidentally” pulled together a gazillion years ago is dead wrong.
oops meant to say above.. before Communism took over the media and real reporters……….ect…
The media is more fixated on killers than survivors. Thanks, Michelle, for bringing this story out. I know I wouldn’t have heard about it from anywhere else.
I’m hoping she has a full recovery.
Thank you so much for that update. That’s all I can say, except may God continue to bless her.
MM I’m curious who is taking care of the young lady now..does she need financial help of any kind? If so where can one go to help…cannot type anymore, can’t see the screen, too many tears of sadness and joy for the little one.
May the ba$tard$ that did this find their hell on earth.
It’s clear that Haleigh still had work to do here on Earth. God bless her caregivers. A speedy recover, Haleigh.
Also, where is Strickland now? Shouldn’t he be in safe custody - say inside a wooden box buried around six feet down?
thank you for the update on this! May God bless Haleigh.
It’s great to hear that she’s recovering, and it’d be great to hear that the bastard who did this to her will get the death penalty for what he did.
How fitting Terri Schiavo’s picture comes up nex to the picture of this beautiful girl.
Shows how ingornant people are who could believe Terri deserved to die. The agony of being Terri’s parents - to be so helpless when they could not even have the right to save their own child.
Thank GOD Haleigh did not suffer the same fate.
So this animal’s lawyer is arguing that since she suffered a brain injury from a beating which may or may not have been at the hands of her adoptive parents (no other suspects named), she can’t testify about said beating because she suffered a brain injury?
Ya gotta love the legal profession.
I’m praying for her to have the ability to sit in court and with complete clarity of detail, point the finger at “the accused”.
Obviously God has great things in store for this child. And I’m sure the rest of us will benefit.
Thank you so much for keeping this story alive and thank God for keeping her alive!!! I would like to see a refresher on this case that highlights the lowlifes who supported taking her off of life support. Thanks to her story, the next murder for convenience will be a little more difficult for the beaurocrats. Thanks to you, we will be more vigilant when the next case arises as surely it will.
What kind of evil causes one to take a baseball bat to such a sweet, cherubic young child?
While not right, I know child abusers are on the bottom-rung of the prison ladder. Even hardened criminals have a (twisted) sense of morality, and many child abusers who end up in prison become victims of abuse themselves.
Haleigh Poutre is a miracle, a blessing, and serves a higher purpose in this world. Prayers for her continued recovery and the wonder of life she has ahead of her.
If hoping the bastard who did this gets shanked in jail is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
Somehow, I don’t think he was concerned about Haleigh’s survival. I’m guessing this was more of a move so that he wasn’t charged with murder.
the kid has tremendous will to survive after almost losing her feeding tube at the hands of LIBERALS
It shows that HOPE comes from God, not from some speech about ‘change’.
Thank you Lord for Your Miracles.
Bless you Haleigh.
Thanks MM, for not letting us forget Haleigh.
This is excellent news about Haleigh.
It is also a good case for illustrating that the courts and the field of medicine are neither omniscient nor omnipotent.
Had doctors, the legal system and the state had their way, Haleigh would have met the same gruesome fate as Terri Shiavo.
Thank God this child turned the corner when she did. I hope she has a speedy, full and quick recovery.
That story brought hope back but bad memories of how Terri Shiavo was starved to death and where hope died because of a selfish husband and uncaring or uninterested judicial system that didnt want to get involved in a very sensitive case.
Now only God knows if Terri could have also recovered. But we will never know.
As Barry said in a prior post, “Thank God this child turned the corner when she did” or she too would have faced the same fate as Terri.
TFM
Amen Shooter.
Hope does come from God, not government. Michelle, you publish these updates and what happens? People pray. Thanks, you’re the best.
Miracles is not a word that MSM likes to use.
Thank GOD for this child and may HE bless her always!
There is a reason she is living.
“It seems to me that charges should have been filed and the bas****s executed before now. BTW, does anyone know if murder charges can be filed against someone who causes such injuries as to put the victem [sic] into a constant vegetive [sic] state?”
Sadly, the only reason that Jason Strickland fought to keep Haleigh on life support was to save his own sorry skin - if she died, he would have faced murder charges.
Since we are talking about the DPR of Massachusetts, all bets are probably off with regard to Strickland really being held accountable for his crime. But I agree, he certainly deserves to be charged with attempted murder at the least.
I became too choked up when posting my 1st thoughts here…
Thank you, Michelle for keeping us posted, I’m sure you won’t let this stop at this stage…lil Haleigh has many friends and admirers here at MM…may she be blessed with a life joy and as much happiness as she can find with a full recovery.
Let’s not her adoptive mother…”mother”? May they both suffer the vengeance of the lord.
Let’s not forget her adoptive mother…sorry for the typo…got too emotional.
Culture of Death, run by the Liberals and State — we beat them this time.
Now how many more Haleighs is it going to take to get them to admit they were wrong, and their PHILOSOPHY is wrong?
Man is fallible. Life and death decisions should always allow for that, and err on the side of life!
Thank you so much Michelle for writing about Hayleigh and Terri. You’re truly a voice for those who can’t speak up for themselves. God bless you.
Not in Massachusetts he won’t. We’ll never have the death penalty as long as liberals continue to rule this state.
It had nothing at all with Terri deserving to die, but that under the laws of the State of Florida, her husband had the right to decide to end her life. As I’ve said from day one in this case. If you live in the state of Florida, use your vote to get the law changed. If you don’t live in Florida, you have no standing in the case, and it’s not up to you to tell the people of Florida what their laws regarding medical proxy should be.