A Kentucky man shocked doctors after being pronounced dead from an overdose. Anthony Thomas Hoover IInicknamed TJ, reportedly began to show signs of life in the middle of surgery, by NPR. Surgeons planned to remove all of his organs for medical donations.
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Family realized TJ was alive before surgery
According to NPR, the medical incident reportedly happened in October 2021 at Baptist Health Richmond Hospital. Now, his sister, Donna Rhorer, tells what the experience was like.
Donna informed the hospital that he was registered to donate his organs. However, as medical staff rushed him into surgery, Donna and other family members present insisted that TJ had opened his eyes. Although Donna believed it was TJ’s way of saying, “I’m still here,” the medical team assured her it was a common reflex for the recently deceased.
Doctors canceled the removal of the man’s organs after this happened
After Anthony Thomas Hoover II’s body arrived in the operating room, Natasha Miller noticed some worrying movements from the patient. At the time, its function was to preserve the organs removed for donation. Miller said he was “How to move, struggle on the table.”
After witnessing the movement, Miller said two surgeons in the room didn’t feel confident moving forward. “It was very chaotic. Everyone was very upset,” Miller added.
Nonprofit reportedly asked another doctor to retrieve the organs
After the proxy surgeon backed out, Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) reportedly requested that the hospital “find another doctor” to retrieve TJ’s organs. Natasha recounted the conversation she overheard from a case coordinator at KODA hospital.
“So the coordinator calls the supervisor right away. And she was saying that he was telling her that she needed to ‘find another doctor to do this’ – that, ‘We were going to take this case. She needs to find someone else,” Miller recalled. “And she said, ‘There’s no one else.’ She is crying – the coordinator – because they are shouting at her.”
Additionally, Miller claims that after the Kentucky man showed signs of life, he was sedated. Ultimately, however, the procedure was cancelled. Donna said he was the one who saved her brother “showing many signs of life.”
Before taking her brother home, Donna Rhorer claims medical professionals told her to keep him comfortable because he wouldn’t live long. However, three years later, she still cares for TJ as he struggles with walking, speaking and memory. by PEOPLE.
However, KODA has since denied allegations that it pressured employees to retrieve organs despite signs of life. While they confirmed that Natasha was assigned to the organ recovery case, the nonprofit told NPR that what happened is not being “accurately represented.”
“No one at KODA has ever been pressured to harvest organs from any living patient,” KODA representative Julie Bergin said in a statement to NPR. “KODA does not recover organs from living patients. KODA has never pressured its team members to do this.”
According to the Administration of health resources and servicesA government initiative, there are 103,223 men, women and children on the transplant list, and every eight minutes another person is added. Furthermore, 17 people die every day waiting for a transplant. In 2023, more than 46 thousand transplants were performed across the country.
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