Back From The Dead
A young man severely injured in an all terrain vehicle accident was declared brain dead and was being prepped for the removal of his organs. His family gathered at his bedside to pay their last respects. Then Zach Dunlap moved one of his feet and a hand.
Dunlap was pronounced dead Nov. 19 at United Regional Healthcare System in Wichita Falls, Texas, after he was injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident. His family approved having his organs harvested.
As family members were paying their last respects, he moved his foot and hand. He reacted to a pocketknife scraped across his foot and to pressure applied under a fingernail. After 48 days in the hospital, he was allowed to return home, where he continues to work on his recovery.
On Monday, he and his family were in New York, appearing on NBC's "Today."
"I feel pretty good. but it's just hard … just ain't got the patience," Dunlap told NBC.
Frighteningly, Dunlap says he remembers the doctors pronouncing him dead. Dunlap's father says he was shown the brain scan and there was no sign of activity. Obviously, something is wrong with the medical models of what constitutes brain death. As is usually the case, we actually know a good deal less than the experts declare about a very complex subject.
By Steve Burri, Tuesday, 25 March , 2008 @ 8:45 am
Most just do not understand the depth of rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma.
By sam, Tuesday, 25 March , 2008 @ 12:27 pm
I think that the hurry to harvest organs can make the medical personnel rush the whole procedure and not take the time to check and recheck.
By Don L, Tuesday, 25 March , 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Could it be a supra natural cause? Nah! We couldn’t be that foolish to believe that could we? Better to count on man -like the ones that were about to murder him.
By Al, Tuesday, 25 March , 2008 @ 3:59 pm
Wow, and I’m an organ donor. I might want to take that off the old license. Or maybe I’ll get a tattoo on my chest, "Please double check, and then check again!"
By Quilly Mammoth, Tuesday, 25 March , 2008 @ 4:24 pm
In the Terry Schiavo case how many times were we told that "Doctors agreed that she wad brain dead". Just like the very fortunate Mr. Dunlap.
By tjh, Wednesday, 26 March , 2008 @ 9:24 am
I took the ‘organ donor’ off my license years ago because I wasn’t convinced that I had to be dead to donate, and I guess I was right. I’m all for organ donation, I just want to be dead first.