13 Year Old’s Family Fights for Her Life

Jahi McMath’s Family Continues to Hope and Fight for her Life

by Mina Frannea

Can you imagine having to face turning off life support for your child?  That’s what Jahi McMath’s family have been dealing with for the last couple of weeks. Jahi, a vibrant 13-year-old went in for ‘routine’ tonsil surgery at Children’s Hospital Oakland to treat sleep apnea issues. Shortly after the surgery, Jahi suffered severe complications that left the teen brain dead and on a ventilator.

On Dec 12, Doctor’s at the hospital declared Jahi legally dead and were planning to remove her from the ventilator. Jahi’s family took legal measures to stop this action and and received a restraining order from a judge that stops the hospital from turning off life support. This ruling gives Jahi’s family until 5 p.m. Jan. 7, 2014 to appeal to a higher court and find a new facility to which they can transfer the 13-year-old.

Jahi McMath Mother CryingJahi’s family wants to transfer her to a long term care facility, but before she can be moved, Jahi needs to have a feeding tube inserted into her body. The hospital will not perform the procedure on someone they consider legally dead for ethical reasons, but they would allow an outside doctor to perform the surgeries.

The family of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who spent almost 15 years in a vegetative state, has joined the fight to save Jahi.

At this time, the McMath family is looking for a doctor to perform the feeding tube procedure before time runs out for Jahi. They have also managed to raise about $42,600 in 6 days as of now to fund the fight for Jahi’s life.

If you want to offer the McMath family support, you can visit Jahi’s McMath’s Facebook page.

 

Mina Frannea is the editor and social media manager at North Texas Kids Magazine. She enjoys the Arts, new technology, cooking, enlightening discussions and sharing relevant information on her blog TheMomsJournal. A Mom to boy/girl twins, Mina enjoys writing about family fun, kids activities and favorite recipes, and sharing her thoughts with other moms about events and/or performances that she has attended.

 

Image Credit #1 McMath Family Source: AP
Image Credit #2 Laura A. Oda/AP Source: AP

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