A 'Dead' Woman Wakes Up, When The Doctors Were About to Cut Her Open
It was exactly midnight when Caroline Burns eerily opened her eyes and looked at the operating lights above her, shocking doctors who believed she was dead and were about to remove her organs and donate them to patients on the transplant waiting list.
By Sadho Ram — 10 Jul 2013, 08:38 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
The story behind the 'dead' woman who woke up during organ harvesting surgery
A woman from New York woke up on a surgery table to find doctors preparing to harvest her organs for donation after they mistakenly assumed she was dead.
Mistakes: A federal report found that hospital officials didn't perform enough tests to accurately access if Burns was brain dead
Image via dailymail.co.ukColleen S Burns, 41, was a patient at St Joseph's Hospital Health Centre in 2009. She had arrived at the emergency room following a drug overdose, The Post Standard reports.
inquisitr.com
Hospital notes revealed that the doctors thought she had undergone "cardiac death." After doctors consulted with the family, they agreed to withdraw life support and donate her organs.
The hospital had mishandled of the case
The hospital's mishandling of the case was part of the reason the state Health Department fined St Joseph's Hospital Health Center $22,000 last September.
lifenews.comThe department found hospital's care of Burns in 2009 unacceptable and a federal agency criticised the hospital for not properly investigating the cause.
Actually Burns was in a deep coma from her overdose, and did not have irreversible brain damage.
In addition to the total $22,000 fine, the hospital was ordered to hire a consultant to review the hospital's quality assurance program, implement the consultants recommendations and hire a consulting neurologist to teach staff how to accurately diagnose brain death.
dailymail.co.ukHere's what happened!
The state Health Department investigation of the incident found that when Burns was first admitted, they skipped a recommended treatment that would prevent the drugs she had taken - Xanax, Benadryl and a muscle relaxant - from being absorbed by her stomach and intestines.
dailymail.co.ukAfter doctors said she was essentially brain dead, her family agreed to take her off life support and her organs donated. But the day before the organs were to be removed, a nurse performed a reflex test and found that Burns was still reacting.
nydailynews.comShe scraped her finger on the bottom of one of Burns' feet and her toes curled downward, a sign that she was still alive.
And that wasn't the only sign of life.
As she was being wheeled to the operating room, Burns' nostrils flared and it seemed she was breathing independently from the respirator. Her lips and tongue were moving as well.
But doctor's ignored the nurse's observations which indicated Burns was still alive.
It wasn't until Burns opened her eyes in the OR that the procedure was called off.
Neither Burns or her family sued the hospital for malpractice. Sixteen months later, a determined Burns successfully committed suicide.
