“Nobody wants Mr. Kasem to die. This is without question the most difficult thing I have ever had to do and Kerri has had to do,” Martin told the judge Wednesday.
He said doctors at St. Anthony’s did try artificial hydration, and “it resulted in Mr. Kasem almost drowning.”
“This is very, very heart-wrenching,” Martin said. “(Mr. Kasem) is receiving morphine drips. Dehydration might be a terrible way to die, but he’s receiving medication to keep him comfortable.”
Casey Kasem, the voice of Shaggy on the TV cartoon “Scooby Doo,” is in the late stages of Lewy Body Disease, a progressive form of dementia that robs many patients of the ability to walk and talk.
Ted S. Warren/AP Jean Kasem (c.) waits with her attorney Joel Paget (r.) and her daughter, Liberty Kasem (l.), before appearing in court on May 30.
He was admitted into intensive care June 1 in critical condition with an infection related to a “serious” bed sore, the hospital said in a statement last week.
“We have tried everything to keep him alive. We did put him back on fluids, but we had to take him off again because his lungs were filling up. It sounded like he was drowning. It was excruciating to watch,” Kerri, 41, told the Daily News Monday.
“The feeding was backing up because he can’t digest,” she said, her voice choking with emotion. “This is breaking my heart. We’re been trying for nine days to keep him alive. There’s nothing we want more than for our dad to be here with us.”
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