13 Year old gir declared brain dead has now officially died

[MaryAnnDVC]

So I got looking at that FB page (because apparently I felt the need to aggravate myself some more) and some of the people on it, and in my FB travels came across a Latesha Lala Black's page. Claims the doctors said she had been brain dead (um...I doubt it) and she was in a coma for a month, yada yada yada. She has a video of herself telling her story at a meeting, and everyone is in awe. This is why people buy into that idea of recovering from being "brain dead"...hearing these claims and not understanding that brain injury, coma, vegetative state, etc are not synonymous with "brain dead".

 

[hereyago]

On the tshirts thing: I wonder if they were given to the students or parents had to buy them?

Right before this school year started, a member of the cross country team at DD's school, she would have been a freshman, collapsed while they were doing a practice run and died shortly after.

I do recall one of the coaches made a memorial t shirt and a rubber wrist band and sold them and said the profits would go to the family.

But still they were memorial, not Team whomever.

 

[disneykidatheart]

A young girl from Oakland is brain dead after going into surgery to have her tonsils removed


On the facebook page titled Keep Jahi McMath on Life Support the first sentence under the picture of her parents is the one above--note: brain dead not coma, vegetative state, etc.

 

[bcla]

I can't recall a school year when I didn't have at least one student who experienced the death of a family member. So now the school has said, "well the doctors say she's dead but if you pray and make shirts maybe she'll come back."

Can you imagine the tremendous guilt some kids will have when Grandma dies? "If only I had prayed more, been more faithful she wouldn't have died." "My family just let Uncle Jim die after his car accident, when they turned off the machine."

It makes me feel uncomfortable when I see a "pray for me/my loved one" thread here on this forum. Certainly I understand the sentiment, but I tend to believe things happen for physical reasons. So one person is prayed for and does well. Another is prayed for and maybe dies. Was it due to a lack of prayer (or sincerity/conviction/numbers) or because the actual circumstances led to the outcomes?

I certainly have no issues of a personal circle where a family is together. It's well known that a good emotional state can often lead to better outcomes. I'm not sure if there's anything divine about it, but that's another matter.

And this is a case where I think it's gone way too far because the family appears to think they can pray their way out of death. They were trying to set a precedent where a court recognizes their religious beliefs as a determination of death so that they can continue using what is normally life-sustaining equipment and care. I'm sure every hospital is freaked out and every insurance company is hoping this doesn't go anywhere. And it's not because they hate religious beliefs but because there should be a standard where limited-availability life-sustaining care should be reserved for actually sustaining life.

 

[AKpooh]

I read an article today ( I will see if I can find it again) that the school she went to asked the students about her. one child replied that she would be back to school soon.

what gets me is the school officials should have left it up to the parents to discuss what was going on. I cant even fathom what is going through these children's minds at the thought she will return to school. putting those kids through this is just wrong.

for the family to say we are going to plan a trip to Disneyworld through make-a-wish is wrong. i can just imagine the pr talk that is going through their offices.

this is blowing up to be a big mess and I cant even imagine what it is going to take to help all those kids when she does die (though in my mind she already is).

 

[SeaSpray]

I've only been vaguely aware of this for the last few weeks, but just read most of this thread tonight.

I can't imagine the shock, pain, anger, sadness, etc that a parent feels when something like this happens to their child.

But I also can't imagine this entire thing and how it has evolved over the past month. If this wasn't actually happening in the news, I'd think it was a movie or story line or something on a hospital show.

Until this thread (and subsequent internet reading I did tonight), I didn't know the difference between being brain dead, comatose, or vegetative state. Now I do know the difference. I watched a few videos; one was Anderson Cooper interviewing Sanjay Gupta, and he explained in no uncertain terms what the differences are.

I would most definitely want to see the brain scans myself; just to *see* for myself. And I am definitely a "don't pull the plug and don't lose hope, until all hope is lost" kind of person, but just understanding the mechanics of what happens when someone is brain dead, I just couldn't convince myself, after the initial period of shock, grief, etc etc, that the person would or could miraculously recover.

And I say that as a very religious person. But like someone said in a previous post, being brought back from death hasn't happened in a couple thousand years.

I can't believe that the laws that govern how a dead body is handled have been altered out there in CA. No matter what a family might want, there are laws in place regarding this. While the family doesn't want to believe that their girl is truly deceased, the facts indicate that she is, and that is what should've prevailed in this case.

 

[SLP958]

Pretty in Pink Birmingham Al on the road to recovery for Jahi



I found this link on the nurses page. It is a new facebook page. It was closed at first but is now open as long as you don't make distasteful, upjectful, (not my word), comments.

They are thinking a trip to Disney for the whole family after Jahi recovers is in order through Make a Wish foundation. Each day brings a new chapter. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

I am from AL.

How embarrassing.

 

[LiveYourLife]

I think we are in a Twighlight Zone

Yes, officially, we have now entered the Twilight Zone with that FB page. I'm ALMOST speechless.

this is blowing up to be a big mess and I cant even imagine what it is going to take to help all those kids when she does die (though in my mind she already is).

Like I said a few pages ago: This has turned in to a macabre, freak-show circus.

It has now been a month that Jahi has been dead. Sucking these school children into the vortex of Planet Crazy is a bunch of bovine fecal matter! So wrong, on so many levels.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

The only Make-a-Wish Disney trip she will be making is Weekend At Bernie's style. This whole thing is nuts.

Parts of the brain that are dead DO NOT heal and come back to life. Half of my brother's brain is dead. You can clearly see the difference in the 2 hemispheres of his brain in a scan. And even though he's been alive for 40+ years since the last episode that caused additional tissue death, it has not "healed" or started functioning.

 

[mom2rtk]

The school should not have said anything, and left it up to parents to discuss. Period.

I can't recall a school year when I didn't have at least one student who experienced the death of a family member. So now the school has said, "well the doctors say she's dead but if you pray and make shirts maybe she'll come back."

Can you imagine the tremendous guilt some kids will have when Grandma dies? "If only I had prayed more, been more faithful she wouldn't have died." "My family just let Uncle Jim die after his car accident, when they turned off the machine."

This is why schools need educators in charge, and not business people with no credentials.

I absolutely agree with the guild these kids will start to feel when they lose someone close, feeling as if there really WAS something else they could have done. Just horrible.

And I can't get past the "Team Jahi" shirts. Like the rest of the world is on the wrong team, perhaps rooting for her to die? Like if only they can garner enough support, she will pull through?

What a disservice.

 

[SLP958]

The only Make-a-Wish Disney trip she will be making is Weekend At Bernie's style. This whole thing is nuts.

Parts of the brain that are dead DO NOT heal and come back to life. Half of my brother's brain is dead. You can clearly see the difference in the 2 hemispheres of his brain in a scan. And even though he's been alive for 40+ years since the last episode that caused additional tissue death, it has not "healed" or started functioning.

It is so inappropriate for that to be funny but I won't lie, it was.

 

[dbrn]

I agree. It's like a reality show mentality - vote, vote, vote to keep your favorite in the competition. I can't believe this has gone on this long, and I can't get over the number of people who actually seem to believe that if they want it bad enough and pray hard enough, this girl can be brought back to life - and that if she did miraculously "wake up", she'd be exactly how she was before all of this happened and ready for a trip to Disney. It totally boggles my mind.

 

[disneykidatheart]

It was the Pretty in Pink in Alabama Facebook page that suggested a trip to Disney through Make a Wish. It is possible and likely Jahi's family doesn't even know about the page. The page does not have many members.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I read an article today ( I will see if I can find it again) that the school she went to asked the students about her. one child replied that she would be back to school soon. what gets me is the school officials should have left it up to the parents to discuss what was going on. I cant even fathom what is going through these children's minds at the thought she will return to school. putting those kids through this is just wrong. for the family to say we are going to plan a trip to Disneyworld through make-a-wish is wrong. i can just imagine the pr talk that is going through their offices. this is blowing up to be a big mess and I cant even imagine what it is going to take to help all those kids when she does die (though in my mind she already is).

I agree, and are they seriously thinking of a make a wish trip to Disney World? My jaw dropped just now.

 

[disneykidatheart]

I agree, and are they seriously thinking of a make a wish trip to Disney World? My jaw dropped just now.

I gave the reference to the Pretty in Pink in Montgomery Alabama page on facebook.

It was that group-NOT JAHI'S FAMILY that suggested a Make a Wish trip for the family. Jahi's family likely does not know about the facebook page.

Like many tragedies that happen be it 9-11 or the shooting in Newtown, small groups take up the cause to "do their part" for support both through prayer and financially. Likely in most cases the people directly involved with the tragedies (families and so on) never know of the existence of those groups.

I made the reference, another poster assumed, and a piece of information morphed into misinformation. I think the family of Jahi is capable of spreading enough of their own circus without being blamed for the Make a Wish idea as well. We all need to be careful of picking up a comment and running with it--myself included.

I was pointing out what I thought was a misguided group. I believe in the power of prayer, In this case I would want the prayer to go for the mental health of Jahi's family, her mother especially. If ever anyone needed prayer I think it is Jahi's mother.

 

[JanaDee]

When does this case move from irrational grief to flat out crazy?

 

[MSLRAC]

When does this case move from irrational grief to flat out crazy?

I'm thinking it moved there about 2 weeks ago. Seriously, when is someone going to say enough? This is straight up ridiculous! And honestly, does anyone think that this family will actually admit when her heart does stop? I'm starting to think that they won't because they won't want to look like a bunch a fools and the uncle won't want his money train will stop.

 

[JanaDee]

I'm thinking it moved there about 2 weeks ago. Seriously, when is someone going to say enough? This is straight up ridiculous! And honestly, does anyone think that this family will actually admit when her heart does stop? I'm starting to think that they won't because they won't want to look like a bunch a fools and the uncle won't want his money train will stop.

Yeah, I think it moved from irrational grief to flat out crazy the day they removed her body from the hospital.

 

[carissa1970]

There was a letter to the editor in our paper this morning from a family faced with the same situation as this family. They were encouraging them to turn off the machines and face the truth, and that it will allow them to grieve and move forward. Unfortunately the family will not see a lot if these types of messages.

 

[Jennasis]

I only check this thread periodically to see if the family has finally come to their senses and let her go. I see today is not that day...once again. Sigh...back to lurking.