Kentucky AG investigating after man wakes up right before organ donation procedure

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman's office is "reviewing the facts" of an alleged botched organ donation.

The medical story of Anthony Thomas "TJ" Hoover II began nearly three years ago when his sister was told he was "code blue," meaning he was experiencing cardiac arrest, while in Baptist Health Richmond’s emergency room, WKYT reported. Hoover was deemed brain-dead. When his family decided to take him off life support, medical staff told them he was a registered organ donor.

Over the next couple of days, Hoover's organs were tested to see what was viable.

"We had his honor walk Friday afternoon," Hoover's sister, Donna Rhorer, recounted. "During his honor walk, his eyes started opening up. He was tracking. His eyes were tracking us around. We were told it was just reflexes, just a normal thing. Who are we to question the medical system?"

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Hoover was only about an hour into organ retrieval surgery when a doctor allegedly came out to speak to his family.

"He said he wasn’t ready. He woke up. But we also hadn’t been told during his heart catheterization that morning, he woke up then. If we had known that, then clearly we would have known he wasn’t brain-dead," Rhorer told the Lexington TV station. "He made several attempts to say, ‘Hey, I’m here.’ But it was kind of ignored. They finally stopped the procedure because he was showing too many signs of life."

Following the alleged organ retrieval gone wrong in 2021, Rhorer was told to take her brother home to care for him and that he would not live long. He is still alive today. 

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Rhorer was not made aware of details about what happened all those years ago until January of this year, when she was contacted by someone who was working with the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates. The woman, Nyckoletta Martin, and other witnesses came forward this year during testimony heard before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in September, WKYT reported. 

While Baptist Health did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry, a statement to WKYT said, "We work closely with our patients and their families to ensure our patients’ wishes for organ donation are followed."

"Our Office has been in contact with advocates and members of Kentucky’s federal delegation regarding this horrific allegation," Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "In collaboration with our Kentucky law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, we will continue reviewing the facts to identify an appropriate response."

"Incidents like this are alarming. And we would want them to be properly reported and evaluated," Dorrie Dils, president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, told NPR. "And obviously we want to ensure that individuals are, in fact, dead when organ donation is proceeding. And we want the public to trust that that is indeed happening. The process is sacred."