Tonsil surgery tragedy leaves teen brain dead, hospital denies discussion of botched tonsil operation

By Jobs & Hire Staff Reporter | Dec 20, 2013 09:02 PM EST

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A tonsil surgery tragedy has left a teen bleeding profusely for hours, which incidentally led to the announcement of the teen's "brain dead" status. Although the standard tonsillectomy procedure the California teen underwent obviously botched, hospital officials denied to openly discuss what went terribly wrong, Examiner reported Friday.

According to multiple sources, thirteen-year-old Jahi McMath had a standard tonsillectomy surgery at Children's Hospital in Oakland. A few days later on December 12, to be exact, Jahi was declared brain dead and was made to thrive through a ventilator support since then.

"After her daughter underwent a supposedly routine tonsillectomy and was moved to a recovery room, Nailah Winkfield began to fear something was going horribly wrong. Jahi was sitting up in bed, her hospital gown bloody, and holding a pink cup full of blood," The Associated Press reported.

Winkfield then began to wonder if the profuse bleeding was all part of the post-surgery recuperation. Nonetheless, it didn't stop her from asking, "Is this normal?" to the nurses of the hospital.

Based on the statements from the AP, Jahi suffered from profuse bleeding for hours before she finally went into a cardiac arrest.

Because of the alarming incident, many began to question what really went wrong. Nevertheless, Dr. David Durand, the hospital's pediatrics chief, said in a statement that they are still unable to openly discuss the tonsil surgery tragedy, but they are asking the teen's family to allow them to release certain details that would render "closure and deeper understanding" on what really happened.

"We are unable - without the family's permission - to talk about the medical procedure, background or any of the details that are a part of this tragedy," Dr. Duran said Thursday.

Winkfield revealed that her daughter was doing fine after the operation, but she noted that Jahi started to bleed from her mouth and nose profusely a few hours later.

"I don't know what a tonsillectomy is supposed to look like after you have it, but that blood was un-normal for anything," Winkfield said.

Since Jahi was declared brain dead, the hospital officials recommended the immediate removal of the teen's life support. But Winkfield didn't want the doctors to touch her daughter any further.

"I just looked at the doctor to his face and I told him you better not touch her," Winkfield said.

The teen's family then appealed for a court order to keep the life support.

Today, Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo ordered that the teen should remain in life support after the tragic outcome of the tonsil surgery while her family continues to seek for second opinion on Jahi's condition.

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