Jahi McMath's Story and Life Blood

Jahi McMath went into hospital on the 9th December last year, for a tonsillectomy and other throat surgery. She began to bleed after surgery and bled for hours until she went into cardiac arrest and then had emergency surgery and was hooked up to life support. Three days later her parents were asked to switch off life support, because Jahi was declared brain dead by the hospital. Jahi's mother said Jahi was moving and didn't want to switch off the ventilator, but the hospital insisted. Jahi's mom then went to court to extend Jahi's life support and this led to a bit more than three weeks of extra support. During Jahi's extended life support, the hospital didn't feed her, at all, for 26 days. Her mom took her out of the hospital into outside care a couple of days before the 7 January deadline to switch off the ventilator--at this point the coroner gave Jahi a death certificate backdated to the 12th December. Jahi is now said to be improving, though many people still want to turn off her life support because they say she is "dead" and that a "corpse" shouldn't be treated. Jahi has quickly improved since being fed and being treated with antibiotics and apparently she even moves her head and neck now. I wonder if she still meets the criteria for brain death and I hope she will be legally reassessed. Is it possible that we are wrong about what brain death really means, at least in some cases? Or were doctors horribly mistaken in their diagnosis? I prefer to ignore the possibility that Jahi's medical records were intentionally falsified. Worrying for me is why Jahi's family had to go to court to keep her on life support, as I truly hope that the decision to turn off life support will always rest with the loved one's family.

Whatever one believes, this case gives one much to think about regarding brain death and the resultant complexity of organ donation. Brain death is a somewhat recent criteria to diagnose death, defined during the 1960s, and is a way to harvest hearts that are still beating for organ donation. Some people say donors experience pain on the operating table, because their blood pressure and heart rates soar, and if they aren't given paralysing drugs, then many move. I wonder if the only true criteria for death is when the heart stops beating and therefore when life blood stops circulating. At the very least, organ donors should understand exactly what happens during organ donation, so it's informed consent. The Bible says, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." (Leviticus 17:11 KJV)

If Jahi recovers, then God has performed a wondrous miracle. I do see God's mighty hand working in Jahi's situation. As someone said, maybe this was allowed to happen so that Jahi's organs weren't used for donation, as per the family's personal and religious beliefs, and that her case causes people to question where the criteria for brain death is leading the world, whatever Jahi's outcome may be. Thank you God.

(Note: I may have a few dates slightly wrong, especially due to world time zone differences)