A Kentucky man who was declared legally dead awoke “thrashing” on an operating table, reportedly shedding “tears,” as doctors were preparing to harvest his heart for organ donation.
And it wasn’t the first time Anthony Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II exhibited signs of life between his supposed death in October 2021 and the subsequent tests to ensure he was fit to be an organ donor.
The disturbing allegations surrounding the incidents at Baptist Health Richmond hospital were reported by NPR this week and are now the subject of a review by the state’s attorney general.
Hoover first ended up in hospital on Oct. 25 following a drug overdose and by the next day, doctors told his sister Donna Rhorer that her brother’s reflexes and brain activity had ceased, according to her interview with WKYT in Lexington.
He was taken off life support the next day, after which the family learned of his registered organ donor status and, respecting his wishes, granted permission to begin the process of assessing his organs.
During one of those, a Cardiac catheterization, Hoover allegedly awoke “thrashing around on the table” only for doctors to sedate him and continue as planned, according to Nyckoletta Martin, an organ donation specialist with Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA), the non-profit procurement organization now known as Network for Hope following a recent merger.
Martin wasn’t assigned to Hoover’s organ recovery but reviewed the files ahead of time. She contacted Rhorer in January 2024 and this September wrote about the incident to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Rhorer alleged her brother exhibited more signs of life after tests were completed and as he was being moved to the operating room – “His eyes started opening up,” she told WKYT – but said doctors told her it was muscular reflexes and was perfectly normal.
“Who are we to question the medical system?” she said.
About an hour into the procedure, Rhorer said doctors emerged, explained her brother wasn’t actually deceased and sent him home with her.
More details of what allegedly happened during that time were disclosed to NPR by another organ donation specialist who was in the operating room as Hoover was being prepared.
“He was moving around — kind of thrashing.
“He was moving around — kind of thrashing. Like, moving, thrashing around on the bed,” Natasha Miller recounted. “And then when we went over there, you could see he had tears coming down. He was crying visibly.”
Miller said the “procuring surgeon” refused to be involved and suggested a KODA supervisor insisted they find another doctor to perform the procedure.
Martin later told NPR that several workers, herself among them, needed to see counselling after the chaotic incident.
KODA, meanwhile, told NPR the “case has not been accurately represented” and that nobody would be forced to “recover organs from living patients.”
It was backed up by the Association of Organ Procurement Organization (AOPO), which said the “unsubstantiated accusations” are part of a five-year campaign of misinformation damaging organ donor registration.
“For over five years, our nation’s organ procurement organizations (OPOs) – the non-profit, community-based organizations that work with grieving families every day to save lives through transplantation – have been subject to malicious misinformation and defamatory attacks based on hearsay, creating a false narrative that donation and transplant in the U.S. is untrustworthy and broken,” their open letter reads.
“Ignored is the fact that there has been 13 years of consistent growth in organ donation by OPOs, leading to a record 43,000 organs transplanted and lives saved through deceased donation last year.”
A statement from the hospital issued to MKYT, NRP and other outlets said it works closely with patients and their families to make sure “wishes for organ donation are followed.”
The incident is also being investigated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a federal agency which helps oversee organ procurement.
As for Hoover, three years after being released with doctors giving him little hope, he continues to reside with Rhorer while he overcomes memory, mobility and speech challenges. His progress on the road to recovery is documented on her TikTok and her Meta accounts.
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