It’s a ‘miracle’ that a man is awake after coma but now the true battle begins as a judge revoked his wife’s guardianship.
Read the full story from The Detroit News here.
By Charles E. Ramirez The Detroit News
Mount Clemens— A 74-year-old Clinton Township man at the center of a guardianship battle has emerged from a 10-day coma, and his children said Monday they plan to seek legal custody of him.
James Chism, 74, a former Fraser chiropractor, slipped into a coma, and doctors at the Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens considered shutting off his “feeding mechanism,” his son Steve Chism said Monday.
But on Sunday, he came out of the coma and is getting stronger.
“Dad gave me a kiss and told me ‘I love you’ this morning,” said daughter Laurie Chism, 42, who has recently relocated to Eastpointe from out of state. “That, in and of itself, is a miracle.”
Officials for Henry Ford Macomb Hospital didn’t return phone calls seeking comment about the case.
Chism’s children said Monday they’re grateful their father is awake and improving. They also said they will petition a court to grant them guardianship over their father in order for him to be able to live with Laurie.
“Once Dad is out of the woods here, there will have to be some decisions made about his long-term care,” said Steve Chism, 50, who lives in Florida but has been in Detroit for the past week.
“But we definitely want to keep him as independent as possible. We want to have him live with one of us at one of our houses.”
James Chism was admitted to the Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens around the first of December after his wife of 27 years told doctors he was acting strangely, Steve Chism said.
His father was then diagnosed with dementia, he said.
James Chism’s wife, Karen Chism, was granted guardianship of her husband by the Macomb Probate Court just before Christmas.
During an emergency hearing held last Wednesday, a visiting Judge Antonio Viviano revoked her guardianship of her husband, appointed an independent guardian for him and ordered a review of his finances.
Read the rest of the story here.