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Anthony Thomas Hoover, an American, woke up moments before doctors were due to begin harvesting his organs for donation after being misdiagnosed as brain dead at a Kentucky hospital after suffering a drug overdose.
The case, which occurred in October 2021, was revealed to the House Energy and Commerce Committee through a letter sent by Nyckoletta Martin , an activist promoting organ donation, according to Noticias Univision.
The letter describing Hoover’s case was presented at a hearing of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee in September 2024.
Natasha Miller , a worker in the operating room for organ preservation work, said she saw the man move.
“She was moving, she was thrashing around in the bed… and when we got closer, you could see tears coming down her face. She was visibly crying ,” Miller told NPR, according to Noticias Univision.
Doctors who were going to perform the organ harvesting became alarmed and stopped the procedure, Miller said.
Hoover’s after-effects
Hoover, now 36, did not emerge unscathed from the incident. His sister, Donna Rhorer, revealed that he has since struggled with serious memory problems, as well as difficulty walking and speaking.
“I feel betrayed,” said Rhorer, who recounted how doctors tried to justify the procedure by claiming her brother’s movements and reflexes were normal for brain death after she saw him open his eyes.
Her case has sparked a heated debate about the safety and accuracy of brain death diagnoses and their relationship to organ donation.
Although KODA has defended its procedures, arguing that it has never recovered organs from living patients, experts on the subject warn that Hoover’s case is not isolated.
Due to the psychological impact on the team that was to harvest Hoover’s organs, several of its members resigned from their positions at the hospital, including Nyckoletta Martin.
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, more than 103,000 people in the United States are waiting for an organ. On average, 17 people die every day due to a lack of donors.
