OAKLAND (CBS SF) — The family of an Oakland teenager legally declared brain dead has petitioned an Alameda County judge to have her declared “alive.”
13-year-old Jahi McMath was declared brain dead at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland in December after she suffered cardiac arrest during what was supposed to be a routine operation for sleep apnea.
Chris Dolan, the family’s attorney said he has “Medical experts, including world-class experts on brain death who will testify she is not brain dead.”
Dolan says test results “show that Jahi has brain activity and is not brain dead – that is an improvement from being brain dead. She also responds to her mother’s voice.” Dolan says there is visual and EEG evidence of brain activity that will be shared at a planned press conference Friday.
An Alameda County Coroner signed a death certificate for Jahi on December 12th, but her family insists the girl is not brain dead.
UCSF Doctor David Durand said the hospital was aware of the petition, and that the hospital trusts that “the California courts, the Alameda County Coroner and the State of California will evaluate any claims made by the family’s attorneys and decide them in a lawful and just manner.”
He also said that no one at the hospital had been in contact with the family since Jahi was released to the coroner on January 5th, 2014.
Who are these 'experts.' I mean the brain is an amazing thing and we don't understand it all yet. But based on some of the reports on the body last year, there isn't a whole lot of living able to go on in that physical body.
Who are these 'experts.' I mean the brain is an amazing thing and we don't understand it all yet. But based on some of the reports on the body last year, there isn't a whole lot of living able to go on in that physical body.
Based on the doctors' reports back in January she was already starting to decompose, so.... yeah. :?
I have tried very hard not to judge this family, because I cannot imagine how difficult it is to lose a child, but this is... damn, I can't even come up with a word. It's making me really sad for them.
What to get out of her being alive? Medicaid, school services, disability payments, and I imagine it's an emotional thing as well, to say she's alive, to feel like they've been vindicated.
Yep, I'm guessing they've run out of donated funds.
Mmmhmm. And possibly the right for Jahi to file a lawsuit? Because the family can't file a wrongful death suit without their house of cards falling.
Their attorney is disgusting.
Wait. Explain this to me. They can't file a wrongful death because she's not....dead, I guess. What kind of suit would they file? Negligence? On the hospital?
"Not gonna lie; I kind of keep expecting you to post one day that you threw down on someone who clearly had no idea that today was NOT THEIR DAY." ~dontcallmeshirley
Mmmhmm. And possibly the right for Jahi to file a lawsuit? Because the family can't file a wrongful death suit without their house of cards falling.
Their attorney is disgusting.
Wait. Explain this to me. They can't file a wrongful death because she's not....dead, I guess. What kind of suit would they file? Negligence? On the hospital?
This tumblr site has some photos that were posted by the mother on IG. You can kind of see the necrosis.
Large photos below of necrosis, contraction of toes and fingers, and loss of muscle mass. In another picture the blog author speculates she's lost a fingernail because one is clearly acrylic.
"Not gonna lie; I kind of keep expecting you to post one day that you threw down on someone who clearly had no idea that today was NOT THEIR DAY." ~dontcallmeshirley
"Not gonna lie; I kind of keep expecting you to post one day that you threw down on someone who clearly had no idea that today was NOT THEIR DAY." ~dontcallmeshirley
Can someone who has seen them and knows tell me what is up with the fingers? It looks like there are holes(??) in them? I'll fully cop to knowing absolutely nothing about this stuff.