Kentucky man wakes up before organ donation, sparks investigation
A Kentucky man who was pronounced brain dead and prepared for organ donation woke up before he was set to undergo the procedure, and the incident has sparked an investigation and led several people to quit their jobs.
Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II, 36, woke up multiple times before he was scheduled to donate his organs in October 2021 in Richmond, Kentucky, Nyckoletta Martin, an organ preservationist with Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates who quit her job over the incident, told USA TODAY.
During his honor walk, a "ceremony of respect where people gather in the halls of the hospital as a donor is moved to the room where the recovery surgery begins," according to Health and Resource Administration, he woke up and began tracking his family members with his eyes.
"He woke up in response to pain during that cardiac tap," she said. "Because when they go up through the arteries, it's really painful."
