I know...that's the debate whether she was really conscious or not. Only God knows the answer to that one.
People tried (and her husband's lawyer succeeded) to combine "not conscious" with "brain-dead" into one condition. We all are close to "not conscious" every time we go to sleep. We breathe all night long, and so did Terri. Her "night", and the state of the people described in the article at the top of this thread, just lasted for years. She was brain-damaged, but not brain-dead.