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Never read the fine print that all organ donation proceeds go to creditors, did ya?
A terrified organ donor came back to life, thrashing and crying on the operating room table, as surgeons prepared to harvest his body parts, according to witnesses – with one described as ‘everybody’s worst nightmare.’
Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II, 36, had been declared brain dead when surgeons went to remove his organs at Baptist Health Richmond Hospital in Kentucky in October 2021, his sister and former Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates employees told NPR.
But as doctors went to test his heart health for transplantation, Hoover reportedly became reanimated.
‘He was thrashing around on the table,’ Nyckoletta Martin recounted, claiming the patient was just sedated.
Then, as the surgeons prepared to remove his organs, Hoover began ‘moving around’ and ‘was crying visibly,’ according to Natasha Miller, another former employee.
Hoover had been rushed to the hospital after a drug overdose that day, and was declared brain dead.
But his sister, Donna Rhorer, said she became concerned when Hoover seemed to open his eyes and look around as he was being wheeled from the Intensive Care Unit to the Operating Room.
‘It was like it was his way of letting us know, you know, “Hey, I’m still here,”‘ she said.
She and other family members were told, however, that it was just a common reflex.
It wasn’t until after Hoover began to move around and cry that the surgeons decided not to move forward with the transplant.
However, Miller said that when her colleague called KODA – which had coordinated the transplant- the supervisor told them they were ‘going to do this case’ anyway and the hospital needed to ‘find another doctor.’
‘It was very chaotic,’ she recounted. ‘Everyone was just very upset.’
Ultimately, the organ retrieval was canceled, and several employees quit in the aftermath.
‘That’s everybody’s worst nightmare, right? Being alive during surgery and knowing that someone is going to cut you open and take your body parts out?’ Martin said.
‘That’s horrifying.’
She added that several of the employees who worked on the transplant had to seek therapy in the aftermath.
‘It took it’s toll on a lot of people,’ Martin said, ‘especially me.’
She has since become a whistleblower, submitting a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the incident as it held a hearing investigating organ procurement organizations.
‘It’s very scary to me now that these things are allowed to happen, and there’s not more in place to protect donors,’ Martin said.
A terrified organ donor came back to life, thrashing and crying on the operating room table, as surgeons prepared to harvest his body parts, according to witnesses – with one described as ‘everybody’s worst nightmare.’
They still allow doctors to wear bacteria transfer ropes (Ties)
Almost one in five Americans in debt expects to die while still in debt.
That is their exit strategy. It's the American way.