(WASHINGTON POST) Nestled among pillows with her long black hair draped over a colorful blanket, 15-year-old Jahi McMath appeared to be peacefully asleep. The caption accompanying her photo supported this notion, describing “Jahi as healthy and beautiful as ever, proving the naysayers wrong.”
There was no mention, on the Facebook post that has been shared 2,521 times since last week, of McMath’s death certificate: a document signed by a California coroner in 2013, declaring her deceased after a routine tonsil removal surgery produced fatal complications.
In legal terms, McMath is no longer alive, because she is brain-dead. Her neurological processes have ceased, and unlike comatose patients in vegetative states, there is no hope for recovery from brain death.
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