Doctors were not the ones who made the decision to take him off life support, his mother and brother did. Doctors are not the ones who decide to withdraw care, the family does.
17 December 2015 - HOUSTON – Eleven months ago George Pickering II was in a very different place in his life. He was in jail, charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon:
"I felt hopeless," said Pickering.
In January, Pickering grabbed a gun, marched into Tomball Regional Medical Center and became locked in an hours long stand-off with police. During interviews with police, hospital staff told officers Pickering threatened them.
Pickering's son, George Pickering III, was in the critical care unit on life support. Pickering said his son had a history of seizures but in January suffered a massive stroke.
"They were saying he was brain dead, he was a vegetable," said Pickering.
Hospital staff told police they were concerned about Pickering’s behavior because earlier in the day he was highly intoxicated and belligerent. Hospital staff said Pickering's ex-wife and his other son were placed in the position of making decisions for George Pickering III. The hospital then ordered something called a 'terminal wean,' a process that slowly removes life support. Hospital staff even notified an organ donation organization that Pickering's son was an organ donor.
"They were moving too fast. The hospital, the nurses, the doctors," said Pickering.
Pickering admits to be being drunk and aggressive that night, but said he was certain there was still life left in his son. He said he faced a similar situation once before with his son and he recovered.
"I knew if I had three or four hours that night that I would know whether George was brain dead," said Pickering.
"Why did you feel that going and getting a gun and threatening people was your only option at that point?" asked Channel 2 Investigator Robert Arnold.
"At that point I had blinders on. All I knew I just needed to have this time with George," said Pickering.
While Pickering initially had a gun he was quickly disarmed by his other son. However, Pickering lied about having a second gun.
"I said, 'I was in the Boy Scouts, you think I only have one gun?'" said Pickering.
AngelOfDeath771 on May 1st, 2020 at 14:34 UTC »
Then the dad was jailed. And every one(else) lived happily ever after
BurningBright on May 1st, 2020 at 14:44 UTC »
Doctors were not the ones who made the decision to take him off life support, his mother and brother did. Doctors are not the ones who decide to withdraw care, the family does.
The dad is still pretty metal though.
Doodlebug510 on May 1st, 2020 at 14:52 UTC »
Background:
17 December 2015 - HOUSTON – Eleven months ago George Pickering II was in a very different place in his life. He was in jail, charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon:
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