A nightmarish incident unfolded at a US hospital when an organ donor woke up on the operating table just as doctors were preparing to remove his heart. according to New York PostThe incident occurred in October 2021 when the organ donor, identified as Thomas TJ Hoover, was airlifted to Baptist Health Richmond Hospital in Kentucky due to cardiac arrest following a medication overdose. Doctors declared him brain dead and proceeded to conduct tests to see if his organs were worth harvesting. However, when Mr. Hoover was taken to the operating room, staff members noticed that he was still showing signs of life.
Natasha Miller, a worker involved in organ preservation, said, “He was thrashing around – kind of thrashing. And then when we got there, you could see he had tears flowing. He was clearly crying. Was.” Post,
The donor’s condition shocked many people in the operating room and the two doctors tasked with the procedures refused to participate. But what was more shocking happened when the case coordinator for Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (CODA) requested new doctors to proceed with organ retrieval, Ms. Miller claimed.
“So the coordinator called the supervisor at the time. And she was saying that he was telling her that she ‘needed to find another doctor to do it’ – that ‘we were going to do this case.’ Need to find someone else’,” Ms Miller said.
Another CODA worker said he made a shocking discovery while reviewing Mr. Hoover’s case. Nicoletta Martin claimed she was shocked to learn that the donor had already shown signs of life as doctors examined his heart to see if it was viable for transplant. “The donor was up that morning during his procedure for cardiac catheterization. And he was moving around on the table,” Ms. Martin said.
According to case file records, doctors anesthetized the struggling Mr. Hoover only after he began writhing around and then proceeded with their plan to amputate his organs.
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Separately, the donor’s sister, Donna Rohrer, said her brother opened his eyes while being moved from the intensive care unit to the operating room, but she was told that the moment was reversible and did not mean he was alive. “It was like it was his way of telling us, you know, ‘Hey, I’m still here’,” she said.
Ultimately the process was cancelled. Post It was reported that due to this incident many members of the Coda team had to resign from their posts. However, CODA officials have denied that any member of the organization instructed doctors to proceed with an organ-harvest operation on a living patient.
Kentucky’s state attorney general said investigators are reviewing the case. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration is also investigating the allegations.
Mr. Hoover is currently living with his sister. He has completely recovered but still has some problems with his memory, walking and talking.
