In this case, think of the heart as a siphon in a circulatory (closed) system. It pumps with the flow. Totally mechanical.
ah , Thank you.
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Of course her heart is beating. You really shouldn’t attempt to speak with authority about a subject of which you are ignorant.
She would indeed be dead if her heart was not physically beating, unless she was given a heart transplant or some mechanical assist device (such as what Dick Cheney had before his transplant). The cardiac conduction system can be functional in profoundly brain-injured people. The fact that her heart is still beating may be an indicator that there is some hope.
There would be no point in having her on a ventilator if her heart was not beating. There is no point giving artificial respirations to oxygenate the blood unless that blood is able to flow whre it needs to go. This requires a beating heart.