DON'T BURY ME ON THE LONE PRAIRIE - UNLESS YOU'RE SURE I'M REALLY DEAD

 

 

Dead is dead and you don't feel anything anymore. But one of the most terrifying nightmares a person can have is of being autopsied, buried or cremated - alive.

 

Can anyone be absolutely sure that you are dead?

 

Phyllis Carter

 

 

New Jersey, U.S.A., October 7, 2014

Two videos released by the family of a 13-year-old girl declared brain dead by three doctors last year show her moving her right foot and hand at a New Jersey rehabilitation facility.

The family of Jahi McMath will ask a California judge on Thursday to reverse an earlier ruling and say the girl is still alive, published reports indicate

While McMath has severe brain damage, she responds to her mother's commands, according to a report on the New Brunswick Patch website. 

McMath entered Children's Hospital in Oakland, Calif. on Dec. 9, 2013 for tonsil, throat and nose surgery to correct sleep apnea, but developed bleeding complications, which led to cardiac arrest.

She was declared brain dead by three doctors, including one appointed by a judge and has been on a ventilator since. A death certificate was issued by Alameda County, Calif.

Last week, the family's attorney played two videos for the media in his San Francisco office last week showing the girl moving. In one she moved her right foot after being asked to by her mother; in the other she moved her right hand. Her eyes were closed in both videos.

McMath's attorney told CBS San Francisco that experts will testify that the girl is not brain dead. 

McMath arrived at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick in January after a death certificate was issued in California. The attorney for the the girl's mother confirmed Monday that McMath is still rehabilitating in New Jersey, but declined to say whether she is still at St. Peter's or has been moved to another facility, the website said.

After her family won a court order allowing them to take her out of Children's Hospital, she was released to their custody in January and taken to New Jersey.

New Jersey is the only state in the United States with a law requiring hospitals to accommodate brain-dead patients who belong to a religion that does not accept the diagnosis as a final verdict for death

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/10/girl_declared_brain-dead_last_year_still_rehabilitating_in_nj_report_says.html