Last Friday we were contacted by the family of a young girl who suffered a severe brain injury. The girl had been in the hospital, on a ventilator, for exactly one week. Doctors believed she was “brain dead” and announced that they would proceed with a series of brain death exams.
One of the exams, the apnea test, entails removing the ventilator for up to 15 minutes to see if the patient spontaneously takes a breath. Even though precautions are taken to minimize complications, the apnea test imposes risks, especially since the patient is already in a compromised condition. The test is done twice, usually a day or two apart. The girl’s parents begged the hospital not to do the apnea test, as they did not want to risk exacerbating her brain injury by withholding oxygen.
The hospital ignored the parents’ pleas and proceeded with the first apnea test. Tragically, no state requires consent for brain death tests – even for minors. The only way to stop a hospital from doing the tests is to get a court order. But it was Friday afternoon and there was no chance to get a judge to sign an order before the courts closed for the long weekend. We contacted the hospital and demanded that the girl continue to receive whatever care and treatment she needed – and that no more brain death testing be done until the parents could arrange for an evaluation by an independent physician.
The hospital insisted the young girl “had passed” and claimed it was unethical for the hospital staff to keep treating her. Supposedly, she was now just a corpse – even though her heart was still beating and no one had yet made a formal determination of brain death. Doctors scheduled the second apnea test for Sunday afternoon.
Again, we tried to get the hospital to hold off. Again, the hospital refused. Again, the hospital asserted she was dead. “Enough is enough” was the doctor’s response when the girl’s parents asked what could be done for their daughter.
I knew what would happen if the girl did not take a breath during the test. The hospital would issue a death certificate, which meant any possibility of a transfer to another facility would be foreclosed. The ventilator would be turned off. The young girl would die.
The family prayed. Our team prayed. And we waited.
At 5:08 pm, I received a text message from the girl’s family.
She is ALIVE!!!
The girl gasped to breathe during the apnea test – which means she is not brain dead or any other kind of dead. She is – and always was – ALIVE!
I would love to report that the hospital is now cooperating with the family to ensure that the young girl gets the treatment she needs. But that is not the case. The hospital says there is a “small window” in which the family can seek a transfer. The implication is that they will withdraw the ventilator if another hospital is not found soon.
Please pray for the young girl and her family. Pray for a suitable long-term care facility and for a medical team willing to provide treatment. Pray that the swelling in her brain would go down and that she would be healed. And please pray for her parents as they continue to fight for their daughter’s life.
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“Small things done with great love will change the world.” Mother Teresa