A man who was declared dead nearly had his organs removed while alive, but the surgery was halted.
In October 2021, a near-tragic event was narrowly avoided at Baptist Health hospital in Richmond, Kentucky, when a man who was declared dead was almost subjected to organ removal while actually still alive. Natasha Miller, a technician responsible for preserving donated organs for transplants, recalled how everything seemed off the moment the patient was wheeled into the operating room. Although officially declared deceased, the donor was visibly moving and crying. Miller stated that the patient was thrashing on the bed, and tears were streaming down his face. The sight deeply disturbed everyone present, including two doctors who refused to move forward.
The hospital’s case coordinator, clearly distressed, called her supervisor for guidance, and the supervisor instructed the coordinator to proceed, even suggesting finding another surgeon to complete the organ retrieval. However, the coordinator, overwhelmed by the situation, was left crying and unable to comply.
Ultimately, the decision was made to halt the surgery, but the events left lasting effects on the medical team. Several workers resigned after the incident, including Nyckoletta Martin, an organ preservationist. Martin, who wasn’t present in the operating room but reviewed the case notes, discovered the patient had shown signs of life earlier that day during a cardiac catheterization. She described how the patient had awoken on the operating table and exhibited distress, yet the medical team sedated him and moved forward with plans to harvest his organs. This, according to Martin, deeply disturbed her, as she had dedicated her life to the organ donation field and was shocked at how such an error could occur.
For Martin, the situation highlighted flaws in the system meant to safeguard organ donors. She expressed her disappointment in the way the incident was handled by the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA), the organization responsible for overseeing the donation process. According to her, KODA downplayed the seriousness of the situation afterward, dismissing the concerns of those who felt something had gone terribly wrong. For Martin and others, this event represented their worst fear: the prospect of being alive during surgery, fully aware that their organs were about to be removed.
The patient at the center of this situation was Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II, a 36-year-old man rushed to the hospital following a drug overdose. His sister, Donna Rhorer, recalled how she had been present at the hospital and noticed her brother opening his eyes and seemingly trying to look around as he was being wheeled to the operating room. Despite these signs, Rhorer and her family were reassured by medical staff that the movements they witnessed were just reflexes.
Hoover’s life, however, was spared when the medical team made the decision not to proceed with the organ removal while he was still alive. The patient survived the incident and now lives with his sister, who serves as his legal guardian. Since then, Hoover has struggled with memory and mobility issues, and when questioned about the event, he often asks, “Why me?”
The incident has sparked investigations at multiple levels, with the Kentucky attorney general’s office confirming it is reviewing the case, and the federal Health Resources and Services Administration also conducting its own investigation. The individuals involved in the case have been interviewed by the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Although Baptist Health hospital issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to patient safety and organ donation procedures, the incident has led to growing concerns over how deaths are determined and how organ procurement organizations operate. Disturbingly, this may not have been the first time that a patient still breathing has undergone similar circumstances with a much more dire outcome.
Organ donation organizations have long faced scrutiny as more than 100,000 people in the U.S. await transplants, creating a high-pressure environment to increase the number of available options. Some critics argue that this environment may lead to mistakes or ethical lapses, even with patients who are still alive. One such critic, Greg Segal, who runs a watchdog organization focused on organ transplantation, has claimed his heard similar stories far too often, saying, “This doesn’t seem to be a one-off, a bad apple. I receive allegations like that with alarming regularity.”
KODA has refuted the allegations against it, with its president, Julie Bergin, asserting that no one at the organization had ever been pressured to collect organs from a living person. She stated that KODA follows strict guidelines to ensure that donors are, in fact, deceased before proceeding with organ removal.
Sources:
‘Horrifying’ mistake to take organs from a living person was averted, witnesses say
Whistleblower says she was pressured to harvest organs from living man
Declared dead, he wakes up shortly before the organ removal: He was crying and moving
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