SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A family member says a girl at the center of the medical and religious debate over brain death has died after surgery.
(AP) — A girl at the center of the medical and religious debate over brain death has died after surgery in New Jersey, her mother said Thursday.
Nailah Winkfield said doctors declared her daughter Jahi McMath dead on June 22 from excessive bleeding and liver failure after an operation to treat an intestinal issue.
McMath was declared dead in December 2013 when she was 13 after suffering irreversible brain damage during routine surgery in California to remove her tonsils and a coroner signed a death certificate. Several specialists concurred after neurological tests.
Winkfield refused to accept the conclusion. She said her Christian beliefs compelled her to fight for continued care for her daughter, who she said showed signs of life through toe wriggles and finger movements.
Winkfield flew her daughter to New Jersey, where she has remained on life support and received care in the state that accommodates religions that don’t recognize brain death.
Source: Jahi McMath, long at center of brain death debate, dies after surgery