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Authorities investigate KY man waking up before organ donation
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Authorities investigate KY man waking up before organ donation


“KODA had many opportunities to do the right thing,” said Nyckoletta Martin, an organ preservationist who works with Kentucky Organ Donors.

A Kentucky man declared brain dead and preparing to donate an organ woke up before the procedure began, sparking an investigation and prompting many people to quit their jobs.

Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II, 36, said he woke up multiple times before he was scheduled to donate his organs in October 2021 in Richmond, Kentucky. USA TODAY.

“It was a big mess,” Martin said.

During the pride parade, “the tribute ceremony, where people gather as donors in the hospital corridors, moves to the room where the recovery surgery will begin”. Health and Resource Managementhe woke up and started following his family members with his eyes.

When his family noticed this, they were told it was a normal reflex.

Martin said his sister, Donna Rhorer, “knew something was wrong because she was looking directly at him.”

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Organ preservationist: Hoover awake before surgery

According to Martin, Hoover woke up hours before the organ donation procedure was to take place.

He woke up while a cardiac catheterization was being performed to test whether his heart was healthy enough to donate.

“He woke up in response to the pain in his heartbeat,” he said. “Because when they go up the arteries, it really hurts.”

After waking up, he was given a sedative.

“They shouldn’t have given him any more medication,” Martin said. “They should have stopped everything at that point and taken him back to the ICU, but they didn’t. So that’s like the first red flag.”

The test was held at 9 a.m. and the pride parade was supposed to take place around 4 p.m. the same day.

Family didn’t know Hoover was awake

Hoover was admitted to Baptist Health Richmond’s emergency room on October 25, 2021, for a drug overdose, according to the local news station. WKYT And NPR.

According to Martin, he went into cardiac arrest for 35 minutes and was brain dead.

While the hospital believed Hoover was brain dead, Kentucky Organ Donors KODA considered him for donation after a case of cardiac death.

The day after he was admitted to the hospital, his family was told he was not showing any brain activity, Rhorer told WKYT. Hoover’s family decided to take him off life support and was told he was a registered organ donor.

According to KPTV, Rhorer did not learn what happened to his brother when he was taken to the operating room until Martin called him in January of this year to tell him.

USA TODAY has reached out to the hospital and KODA for comment but has not yet heard back.

Doctors left the room after showing signs of life

Two doctors were present when Hoover began showing signs of life before the afternoon procedure and refused to continue.

“They both said absolutely no and just kind of walked away,” Martin said.

The field coordinator called KODA about the situation and told them what happened.

“I think he was waiting for them to say, ‘Okay, let’s move him back to the ICU and cancel the case,'” Martin said. “But instead they pressured him to find another surgeon to finish the case or he would be fired.”

The coordinator, who Martin did not name, resigned the same day.

“It is important to understand that KODA has many opportunities to do the right thing,” Martin said.

Martin and another person involved in the case also quit because of the situation.

Organ preservation specialist says he was fired after incident

Martin said that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after his experience at KODA. U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee According to the Wall Street Journal, it was reported that there was pressure to harvest organs from a person who was still alive.

USA TODAY asked for a copy of the letter, but Martin refused to share it because Congress didn’t ask him to.

His letter was discussed in a meeting hearing On September 11, the Committee held a hearing titled “A Year of Lift: Oversight of Assuring Implementation of the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act.”

After the hearing, he was fired from his job at Paragonix, which specialized in making refrigerators used to transport donated organs.