Tinslee Lewis discharged from Cook Children's Medical Center amid legal fight
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Advocates who fought to keep a hospital from removing a baby girl from life support said Wednesday that her survival could create a ripple effect in parents standing up for medical decisions for their children.
Tinslee Lewis made it home last week following more than two years of legal battles to prevent doctors from letting her die naturally.
Her mother Trinity posted on Facebook that she was officially a "two carseat mom" with her daughter's move home.
"She's doing so good," she continued in the post.
Born prematurely in 2019, Tinslee's body was unable to properly get oxygen into her bloodstream, and doctors were unable to improve her situation. Cook Children's Medical Center determined continued intervention was causing her to suffer, citing the Texas Advanced Directives Act, which allows hospitals to end care after 10 days unless families can find an alternative location for treatment.
Texas Right to Life and Protect TX Fragile Kids both came to Trinity Lewis aid, winning a court injunction that has held up through appeals to the Texas and U.S. Supreme Court.
"These are not medical decisions necessarily," said Kimberlyn Schwartz with Texas Right to Life. "They're value judgements, on whether someone else's life is worth living. We believe that should be decided with both parties, not one party having all of the power in Texas law."
Schwartz said during the last year the dynamic between the family and Cook Children's was different. She received a tracheotomy last year, and court documents submitted last fall said the two sides were working toward a solution.
Tinslee still has complex medical issues Schwartz said, and receiving assistance at home from a respiratory therapist and portable ventilator, but has improved over the last couple years.
Cook Children's Health System released a statement: "The medical teams at Cook Children's have dedicated their lives to healing children, and go to tireless lengths to do what they believe in their hearts and minds to be the very best decision for each and every patient."
