4 Terry Schiavo

Terri Schiavo, the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman who became the centerpiece of a national right-to-die battle, died nearly two weeks after doctors removed the feeding tube that had sustained her for more than a decade. The Schindlers lost what their lawyer described as their "last meaningful legal appeal" in their desperate battle to have their brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube reinserted. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an emergency appeal from the Schindlers. Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, was her legal guardian and wanted the tube removed.