THIS is the moment a “dead” man was wheeled into surgery to have his organs harvested before he woke up.
Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II had a miracle escape when he was declared brain dead and marked to become an organ donor.
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The bewildered patient began trying to pull out his own teeth on instinct when he came to lying on the surgical table.
New video shows the moment Hoover was given a guard of honour as he was wheeled towards the operating theatre.
Hoover – who had been in hospital after a drug overdose – survived his ordeal.
He reportedly began to cry when he woke up.
Natasha Miller, an employee at Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, said “He was moving around — kind of thrashing. Like, moving, thrashing around on the bed.
“And then when we went over there, you could see he had tears coming down. He was crying visibly.”
Since the ordeal in October 2021, Thomas’ sister has been forced to act as his legal guardian.
The helpless victim has had issues with his memory, walking and talking ever since.
His sister Donna Rhorer said: “‘I feel betrayed by the fact that the people that were telling us he was brain dead, and then he wakes up.
She went on: “They are trying to play God.
“They’re almost, you know, picking and choosing – they’re going to take this person to save these people.
“And you kind of lose your faith in humanity a little bit.
“The procuring surgeon, he was like, ‘I’m out of it. I don’t want to have anything to do with it.’
“It was very chaotic. Everyone was just very upset.”
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The incident meant staff “needed therapy” following the “toll” it took on witnesses to the terrifying ordeal.
Shocked relatives helplessly watched on whilst Thomas came back to life on his ‘honour walk’.
The footage shows the grieving family leaning over the bed and saying their final goodbyes.
This is a tradition at Baptist Health Richmond Hospital in which loved ones and staff line up to cheer someone who has been taken off of life support.
As the patient is being wheeled away to have their organs harvested, a hallway of people stand in respect, as if to acknowledge the deceased.
The soon-to-be-botched harvesting surgery was cancelled, and an investigation is under way.
The Kentucky state attorney general’s office said investigators are “reviewing” the allegations.
Julie Bergin, president and COO for Network for Hope, which was formed when KODA (Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates merged with the LifeCenter Organ Donor Network defended the situation.
““No one at KODA has ever been pressured to collect organs from any living patient.
“KODA does not recover organs from living patients. KODA has never pressured its team members to do so.”
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