Free Republic

They lost their daughter to a botched transplant - now Jesica Santillan's heartbroken parents are scared to take her home to Mexico to bury her. Magdalena Santillan and Melecio Huerta will reluctantly bury Jesica Santillan in North Carolina, a family spokesman said. "The mother was upset, but she understands if she leaves the country she might not be able to come back," said Mack Mahoney of Louisburg, N.C. "That's just the way it is." The family paid thousands to be illegally smuggled into the U.S. in 1999 so Jesica could get proper care for her rare cardiac condition. The family...

The teenage girl who was put through two heart-lung transplants because the first set of organs were the wrong blood type had lost all brain activity Saturday, and blood was no longer flowing to her brain, a hospital spokesman said. The hospital had not yet declared Jesica Santillan brain dead, but her family was meeting with doctors to discuss the next step. Duke University Medical Center spokesman Richard Puff said Saturday that tests had found blood was no longer flowing to the 17-year-old's brain and they registered no brain activity. He has said the time frame to declare brain death...