School district refuses to comply with student's do-not-resuscitate order

Mother of terminally ill 11-year-old boy is suing Washtenaw Intermediate School District

SCIO TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Dawn Krause's son Willy was born with a rare brain disorder.

She recently celebrated his 11th birthday -- something no one expected.

"We were told he would probably not live past 2," she said.

He is unable to speak or eat and can have up to 100 seizures a day. Dawn and Willy's father, and stepfather, have worked hard to make him as healthy and as happy as possible. But Willy has a "do-not-resuscitate" order, which Dawn hoped his school would follow.

"If his heart were to stop beating at school, he has a terminal disorder and we have decided not to do anything heroic to bring him back. We would do comfort measure only. We've seen him near death many times and we've seen him come back never quite as he was before," said Dawn.

Willy gets specialized care at High Point School, which is operated by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. According to its policies, a do-not-resuscitate order cannot be followed.

"Schools are places where people are cared for or educated as opposed to ... anticipating or preparing that they'll die. There's considerations that go to the fellow students and to the families as well as the employees," said Timothy Mullins, attorney for the school district.

Dawn has filed a lawsuit in Washtenaw County circuit court.

"This is not a typical school where you have kids on the playground who might be injured and need resuscitating. It's a completely different world," she said.

Though Dawn has a legal dispute with the school, she says the care they give her son is wonderful.

"The school is a God-send, really. They have things there that we can't afford. They have a therapy pool. They have standing devices where he can actually stand in a device and get that feeling," said Dawn.

She and her family will keep trying to give Willy the best life possible while being prepared for what to do when the end comes.

The school has offered to enter into a consent agreement with Dawn Krause. Under that plan, a judge would sign off and the do-not-resuscitate order would be put into effect.

However, Dawn still wants to go to court to challenge the policy.