Family files injunction after doctors declare Brampton woman dead

By Cristina Howorun

She’s been declared dead for nearly a week, but her parents want the physicians who made that determination to reconsider.

Doctors declared Taquisha Desiree McKitty, 27, brain dead last Wednesday and signed her death certificate. It was six days after she was admitted to Brampton Civic Hospital following a drug overdose.

She’s been on life support since then, and her family has been fighting with the hospital to keep her alive since her heart is still beating.

“Our daughter is still alive. She’s very hurt. She’s in a very serious condition, but she is not dead,” McKitty’s father Stanley Stewart told CityNews.

Backed by family, including McKitty’s nine-year-old daughter, and armed with a court injunction, Stewart has been able to stop the hospital from turning off the respirators that are helping her breathe — for now.

“We just want a doctor to come in and help us and save her life,” he said.

The William Osler Health System declined to comment on the case, but said two experienced physicians make the determination of death.

“Osler physicians follow a recognized standard of practice and criteria for neurological determination of death,” the hospital said.

Bioethicist Kerry Bowman said a person is generally considered dead when he or she is brain dead.

“In many western countries you would be considered dead if there’s absolutely no neurological function whatsoever in the brain,” he said. “Life support would be keeping them alive, which would be keeping them almost breathing and their heart beating.”

“If the person actually meets the criteria for brain death, then they would be considered medically deceased.”

But the family contended days after McKitty was declared dead that she was still functioning, moving her thumb on command, turning towards her cousin’s voice, and squeezing her aunt’s hand.

“They want the ability that any family would want for someone to say, ‘This is a life and we are going to do everything in our power to make sure that we save this life,'” explained Bishop Wendall Brereton. “Her heart is still beating, she’s still responding. She’s not dead. She’s just asleep and we want to wait for her to wake up.”

On Thursday, the family hopes the judge will compel the hospital to rescind the death certificate so that she can move to another facility and get a second opinion.

The likelihood of this happening is slim. Bowman said he can’t recall a single Canadian case where a patient has been on life support for an extended period after their death was determined.

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