Dad Speaks Out After Being Jailed for Saving Son's Life

Eleven months ago, George Pickering II was told by doctors at Tomball Regional Medical Center that his son, who had a history of seizures, would not recover after he suffered a massive stroke and was in a coma.

In simpler terms, terminal wean means that a patient who is declared brain-dead will be unhooked from the life-support machines, after a period of time, with the consent of both hospital's management and the next of kin.

During the standoff, which lasted several hours, Pickering said his son squeezed his hand three or four times.

Pickering grabbed a gun, walked into the hospital and became locked in a stand-off with police. He admitted that he was drunk, but he was certain that there was still life left in his son.

During the standoff, Pickering's faith that his son had been misdiagnosed never wavered and after he finally got the response he wanted from his boy, he surrendered peacefully to authorities.

He stayed at his son's bedside and say he son even squeezed his hand on command.

Police used a robot to draw back the curtain after hours of negotiations.

His son said: "There was a law broken, but it was broken for all the right reasons". Pickering was so adamant in keeping his son alive that he brought a gun to the hospital room to stop what was about to happen. "It was love, it was love".

Harris County Sheriff's Office Pickering was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

One charge was dismissed and the other lessened to a state jail felony.

Pickering was given credit for the time served in jail, and released earlier this month to be reunited with his son. "All I knew I just needed to have this time with George", Pickering said.

In January, George Pickering II stormed the Tomball Regional Medical Center in Houston with a gun and demanded access to his son, George III. But they were moving too fast.

'I'm here now because of it. It was love, it was love'.

In a statement to KRPC, the hospital claims that although it will recommend plans of care for patients, it is up to the "appropriate decision-maker" to decide whether or not to go ahead with the recommended care plan. "Everything good that made me a man is because of that man".