Posted on 11/18/2014 4:03:41 PM PST by Morgana
A judge on Monday ordered a Brooklyn hospital to keep a 2-year-old girl on life support for at least another day, as her parents argue over whether her organs should be donated.
The girl, Thaiya Spruill-Smith, was declared brain-dead on Friday, after injuries apparently caused by her stepfather violently shaking her. Almost since birth, the little girl has been the subject of a custody dispute between her father and mother; that argument will resume in court on Tuesday, with the resolution likely to determine the fate of her organs.
There is, at least medically, a little time to decide. Children’s organs can stay viable for longer than those of adults, with literature reporting circumstances where organs have functioned up to a month after the child was declared brain-dead, said Dr. Stephan A. Mayer, director of the Institute for Critical Care Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
God Bless the little child and everybody involved
It’s always the goon boyfriend/step dad
What a sad waste of a child’s life.I hope the stepfather gets everything due him.Like life in prison with no possibility of parole.
I also hope that the father’s wishes are respected regarding his child’s organs, and not the worthless mother who cared s so little for her child that she would take up with such a no-good boyfriend
There seems like there’s a pattern of this behavior with women,some of them like dangerous men.
Apparently the issue has been settled and the child will be buried with her organs intact. The judge ruled that both parents had to unanimously agree on this decision, and since the child was not on the national Donor registry to begin with, there wasn’t a case.
In addition, the boyfriend will now be charged with homicide instead of assault so the girl’s damaged organs will be evidence in any upcoming murder trial.
One of two times I came dangerously close to killing someone was over a shaken baby. A useless waste of skin was making excuses for himself while I was caring for the now brain dead 7 day old...
are you a doctor or a judge?
I was a 4th year medical student, not yet under the Hippocratic oath
Just to point out, not every stepfather is evil.
Mr Kitty step in and took over over the father role for my 3 oldest boys when the oldest was 2 and the youngest was 8. Joke with my friends was that the kids would go to Mr Kitty to ask permission before they came to me. He was a good father to them.
Not like their own dad, who might have killed them.
(Just saying)
Oldest 12 yikes
The excerpt doesn’t seem to tell us which parent is for organ donation versus not. The decision belongs to the biological father; the mother lost all moral claims when she chose not to get the child away from the stepfather no matter what it took, after the first hint of abuse.
The step-father’s organs should definitely be donated tomorrow.
I confess that, as the step father, I get a little annoyed by the painting with such a broad brush.
I took over as dad to a 6 year old boy and a 3 year old girl more than 25 years ago (wife and I celebrated 25 this year).
The daughter had me walk her down the aisle, not biodad.
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