Everything was ready for the removal of his organs . Yet Anthony Thomas "TJ" Hoover II, declared dead after a heart attack , woke up just before the operation . It happened in Kentucky , in October 2021. The one who realized that something was wrong was Natasha Miller, one of the nurses on the team at the Baptist Health hospital in Richmond who noticed that " that man was moving ", "he seemed to be writhing on the bed" and "when we approached he was visibly crying ". Two investigations were opened from her complaint , one state and one federal, and TJ's family decided to make the news public even though it dates back a few years.
“TJ’s” sister then reconstructed what happened three years ago. The man had gone into cardiac arrest due to a drug overdose. From there, the doctors communicated to the family that there were no more reflexes and brain activity, so much so that they decided to remove him from life support. The hospital staff then announced that the man had agreed to donate his organs and so they proceeded with the removal. The situation changed when the woman noticed that her brother’s eyes, upon arrival in the operating room, seemed to have opened even though “they had told us it was a normal reflex”. Then the shocking news: the operation was cancelled. “In reality, he had woken up”, explains the sister.
Then, in January, TJ’s family was contacted by Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA). It turned out that a hospital employee had sent a letter about the case, initiating a process to verify the doctors’ actions. The hospital said that “patients’ health is our top priority. We work closely with patients and their families to ensure that our patients’ wishes regarding organ donation are respected.” KODA said it has never taken organs from living patients and that “no one has ever been pressured to do so.”
The state attorney general and a federal agency are investigating the case to determine whether all procedures were followed or whether the law was violated.
