Ahead of court decision, family of Brampton brain dead woman says she is moving

Taquisha McKitty has been legally dead since Sept. 20, but she continues to lie in a Brampton hospital bed and family and friends say she’s moving her body.

“She’s really moving now, from her head to her toes,” says Bishop Wendell Brereton, a pastor who has been helping McKitty’s family with the ordeal. The family hopes the new videos of her moving her legs and toes over the past week will compel the court to keep the hospital from pulling the plug.

The 27-year-old mother was brought to Brampton Civic Hospital on Sept. 14, after she had a drug overdose. After six days, doctors declared her brain dead — even signing her death certificate — despite her family’s wishes. In Canada, “brain dead” is one of several legal definitions of death.

“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.

The family filed an injunction to keep McKitty on life support.

On Sept. 28, Ontario Superior Court Judge Lucille Shaw extended that injunction to Oct. 17 so the family could get a second opinion from another physician.

“This means so much to us as a family because this is all we’ve been asking from day one is just to give her more time,” McKitty’s cousin, Ajwoa Atuahene, said last month outside the Brampton court.

“They wanted to pull the plug on her within one week. That’s not enough time. She’s still alive; she’s still fighting; she’s still breathing. She’s here with us.”

But her presence may be causing stress on staff and resources at the hospital. Erica Brown, representing Dr. Omar Hayani at court last month said McKitty was having an “impact” on staff who are forced to care for her, despite the diagnosis.

Although the hospital didn’t respond to a request for the cost of her stay, figures obtained through its website suggests an uninsured patient would be billed at least $56,000 for the treatment McKitty has received since the death certificate was signed.

Demanding to have an independent second opinion to assess McKitty, her family brought Dr. Paul Byrne, a retired American neonatologist, to court. Byrne has experience working with people who were at one point considered brain dead, but were revived

“She is a living young lady,” Byrne told CItyNews outside Brampton Civic Hospital on Monday. “You don’t need to be a physician to see that. She’s not dead and is deserving of treatment.”

Although he is not licensed to practice medicine in Ontario, Byrne intended to conduct a physical examination of McKitty sometime during the past two weeks.

That hasn’t happened.

The family has been unable to find a licensed neurologist to supervise Byrne’s examination.

“You’re trying to go against an establishment,” Stewart said of the medical profession. “It’s hard; it’s part of the challenge.”

One of the major reasons for the the latest injunction was to give the family a chance to have another physician examine McKitty.

The William Osler Health System declined to comment, 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,” a hospital spokesperson said.

The family is expected back in court on Tuesday.

It has launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist in the legal challenge, which it claims is costing close to $80,000.