Jahi McMath being kept at New Jersey hospitalBy Karina Ioffee and David DeBolt Bay Area News Group
Posted: 06/18/2014 11:26:01 PM PDT
Updated: 06/19/2014 12:29:23 PM PDT
Jahi McMath, the Oakland girl who was declared brain dead after a trio of nose and throat surgeries last December, is being kept at St. Peter's Children's Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, television station KPIX reported late Wednesday.
Jahi, 13, was declared brain dead after a series of operations to remove her tonsils and tissue from her nose and throat in December at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. She continued to receive feeding and breathing support after the diagnosis as her family engaged hospital officials in a legal battle to keep the girl on organ support.
The news comes after months of speculation about the girl's whereabouts; in January, the family won a court order allowing them to take her out of Children's Hospital, but did not say where she was transferred. The Alameda County Coroner's Office even issued a death certificate for Jahi before allowing her body to be released from Children's Hospital Oakland, on the condition that once her organs shut down, the family would have to notify the coroner.
KPIX reported that she is receiving round-the-clock care and has responded to commands, moving specific parts of her body when asked.
Attorney Christopher Dolan, who represents Jahi's family, would not comment on her location. In a statement to Bay Area News Group, he said that "Jahi's physical condition is much better than when she was at Children's Hospital," adding that predictions that her organs would shut down and her heart would cease pumping had not come to pass.
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