declared dead, organ donor wakes up just as his heart was about to be removed

At a hospital in Kentucky, USA, an organ donor who suffered a drug overdose woke up on the operating table just as surgeons were preparing to remove his heart. Which gave rise to a controversy.

A nightmare scenario. After a drug overdose, Thomas TJ Hoover was declared brain dead by doctors at Baptist Health Richmond Hospital in Kentucky, USA. As surgeons prepared to remove his heart for a transplant, the 36-year-old woke up on the operating table. Responsible for preserving the organs within the medical institution, Natasha Miller told NPR on Thursday, October 17, of the horrifying facts that took place in October 2021.

“He was moving in all directions, he was struggling,” the American recalled. She explained in particular that she had heard the coordinator of the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) association insistently ask doctors to perform the surgical procedure.

Nyckoletta Martin, another KODA employee, claimed that while reviewing Thomas TJ Hoover’s file, she was “shocked” to learn that the organ donor was reportedly showing signs of life, even as doctors examined his heart to see if it was viable for a transplant.

“The donor had woken up during the cardiac catheterization procedure he underwent in the morning. He was struggling on the table,” repeated Nyckoletta Martin, confirming Natasha Miller’s words.

doctors refute the controversy outright

According to the thirty-year-old’s file, the doctors gave him a sedative when he woke up, in order to continue the organ harvesting. A serious incident which pushed several members of the KODA team to resign.

“I have dedicated my entire life to organ donation and transplantation. I find it very frightening that these incidents can occur and that there are not more measures in place to protect donors,” lamented Nyckoletta Martin.

Donna Rhorer, Thomas TJ Hoover’s older sister and guardian, told NPR that her brother opened his eyes when he was being transported from an intensive care unit to an operating room. After questioning the professionals, one of them told him that the movement was a reflex and in no way meant that his brother was still alive.

“It was like he wanted to let us know he was still there,” she recalled.

For their part, KODA officials denied that a member of their organization had asked doctors to harvest an organ from a living patient.

The Attorney General of the State of Kentucky said that an investigation was underway to clarify the facts. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration is also investigating.

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