A woman on TikTok launched a massive debate on social media after revealing that a story about a man who woke up right before his organ donation surgery after he was declared brain dead made her decide to no longer be an organ donor.
TikToker @unapologeticallysouthern shared that she learned about Anthony Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II's story the day she was to renew her driver's license.
Hoover was admitted to the emergency room on October 25, 2021, where he experienced cardiac arrest and was deemed code blue.
The family was told Hoover had "no reflexes, there was no brain activity, no brain waves."
The next day, the family decided to remove him from life support. After being told Hoover was a registered organ donor, the family decided to honor his wishes.
After his organs were tested, which included cardiac catheterization, to find which organs were able to be donated, his family noticed his eyes opening and "tracking."
Medical staff told them it was just reflexes, "a normal thing."
Hoover was later taken in for organ retrieval surgery, and about an hour into the procedure, he woke up.
His sister told a news outlet:
“About an hour into it, the doctor came out and got us. He said he wasn’t ready. He woke up. But we also hadn’t been told during his heart catheterization that morning, he woke up then."
"If we had known that, then clearly we would have known he wasn’t brain dead."
This story was enough for @unapologeticallysouthern to rescind her organ donor status.
In her TikTok, she said she told her husband:
“If something happens to me, you need to let me lay there for about six weeks before you decide I’m brain dead, not two days."
She continued:
“It’s my body, it’s my choice, how 'bout that."
“I’m not doing it because I don’t know if somebody would declare me brain dead because, I don’t know, one of my organs looked nice and ripe for someone else.”
In the video, she also asked if donors' families receive any kind of compensation.
The answer is no, although while the donor family does pay for the medical care to keep their loved one alive before their organ donation, the cost of surgery to remove the organs is paid for by the recipient, according to the Mayo Clinic.
You can watch the TikTok below.
@unapologeticallysouthern My Body My Choice! I’m no longer an Organ Donor and here is why…#mybodymychoice
@unapologeticallysouthern's video sparked quite the debate in the comments.
Many viewers shared positive organ donation experiences.
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
Others, however, sided with the TikToker claiming they, too, have changed their minds about being organ donors.
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
@unapologeticallysouthern/TikTok
In the case of Hoover, his family was told to take him home and "make him comfortable" as he wouldn't have much time left.
His sister has now been caring for him for three years.
You can watch Hoover's story below.
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