Last week, we told you about efforts by the family of an Oakland girl who was pronounced brain dead in December, 2013, to have that pronouncement overturned. And now, the family has released videos that they say proves that the child is improving, and should be declared alive, again.
You can get the full back story here, but to summarize: on December 9, 2013 13-year-old Jahi McMath underwent a routine surgery on her tonsils at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. She seemed to come out of the surgery just fine, then began hemorrhaging and went into cardiac arrest. Three days later, she was declared brain dead, and the Alameda County coroner signed off on her death certificate. After a legal battle with the hospital, which wished to remove her from life support, McMath's family moved her to a New Jersey care facility, where she remains to this day.
At a press conference Friday, SF Gate reports, McMath's family members and their lawyer, Christopher Dolan, showed the below videos of McMath. They say the clips show the girl responding to her mother's voice, an argument to support their claim filed in Alameda County Court last week that she should be declared alive.
At Friday's media event, the Associated Press reports that Dolan said that tests McMath took last week at the International Brain Research Foundation found signs of activity in her brain.
“People have been very critical of this family and myself," Dolan reportedly said. "They say we’re trying to pull a hoax. We’re not. This is no ruse. This is the truth.”
If the move to revoke McMath's death certificate is successful, her family says they'd like to move her back to California to continue her care. It's also possible, should McMath be considered alive by the courts, that either the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital or California taxpayers might end up being responsible for McNath's continued treatment.
Previously: Family Of Oakland Girl Pronounced Dead In 2013 Wants Her To Be Declared Alive