Kentucky AG investigating after man wakes up right before organ donation procedure

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman's bureau is "reviewing the facts" of an alleged botched organ donation.

The aesculapian communicative of Anthony Thomas "TJ" Hoover II began astir 3 years agone erstwhile his sister was told helium was "code blue," meaning helium was experiencing cardiac arrest, portion successful Baptist Health Richmond’s exigency room, WKYT reported. Hoover was deemed brain-dead. When his household decided to instrumentality him disconnected beingness support, aesculapian unit told them helium was a registered organ donor.

Over the adjacent mates of days, Hoover's organs were tested to spot what was viable.

"We had his grant locomotion Friday afternoon," Hoover's sister, Donna Rhorer, recounted. "During his grant walk, his eyes started opening up. He was tracking. His eyes were tracking america around. We were told it was conscionable reflexes, conscionable a mean thing. Who are we to question the aesculapian system?"

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View from down of 4 doctors successful infirmary corridor walking distant from camera.  (iStock)

Hoover was lone astir an hr into organ retrieval country erstwhile a doc allegedly came retired to talk to his family.

"He said helium wasn’t ready. He woke up. But we besides hadn’t been told during his bosom catheterization that morning, helium woke up then. If we had known that, past intelligibly we would person known helium wasn’t brain-dead," Rhorer told the Lexington TV station. "He made respective attempts to say, ‘Hey, I’m here.’ But it was benignant of ignored. They yet stopped the process due to the fact that helium was showing excessively galore signs of life."

Following the alleged organ retrieval gone incorrect successful 2021, Rhorer was told to instrumentality her member location to attraction for him and that helium would not unrecorded long. He is inactive live today. 

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Russell Coleman was elected the 52nd lawyer wide of Kentucky connected Nov. 7, 2023. (Commonwealth of Kentucky)

Rhorer was not made alert of details astir what happened each those years agone until January of this year, erstwhile she was contacted by idiosyncratic who was moving with the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates. The woman, Nyckoletta Martin, and different witnesses came guardant this twelvemonth during grounds heard earlier the House Energy and Commerce Committee successful September, WKYT reported. 

While Baptist Health did not instantly respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry, a connection to WKYT said, "We enactment intimately with our patients and their families to guarantee our patients’ wishes for organ donation are followed."

"Our Office has been successful interaction with advocates and members of Kentucky’s national delegation regarding this horrific allegation," Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said successful a connection to Fox News Digital. "In collaboration with our Kentucky instrumentality enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we volition proceed reviewing the facts to place an due response."

Doctor performing country successful a infirmary operating room. (iStock)

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"Incidents similar this are alarming. And we would privation them to beryllium decently reported and evaluated," Dorrie Dils, president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, told NPR. "And evidently we privation to guarantee that individuals are, successful fact, dormant erstwhile organ donation is proceeding. And we privation the nationalist to spot that that is so happening. The process is sacred."