NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—After Jahi McMath’s surgery to correct her sleep apnea resulted in the teenager having a heart attack on December 9, three doctors her declared brain dead under California law.
A death certificate was issued to her in Alameda County, California, but an attorney for the family says the 13-year-old is alive, supported by a ventilator and feeding tubes, at St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Currently New Jersey is the only state with a law that requires hospitals to care for brain dead patients whose religions do not consider Brain Death a final verdict for total death, which was why she was moved to New Brunswick.
McMath’s mother and the family’s attorney, Christopher Dolan, believe the young teen to still be very much alive, as she has been responding to their commands.
Their attorney even recorded two videos of McMath moving her limbs, in what he said was a sure sign that she is not completely braindead.
In January, McMath was quietly moved to St. Peter’s, where she has been receiving full-time care at the pediatric intensive care unit ever since, according to CBS San Francisco.
