OKLAHOMA CITY - Four months after he was declared brain dead and
doctors were about to remove his organs for transplant, Zach Dunlap says he
feels "pretty good."
Dunlap was pronounced dead Nov. 19 at United Regional Healthcare System
in Wichita Falls, Texas, after he was injured in an all-terrain vehicle
accident. His family approved having his organs harvested.
As family members were paying their last respects, he moved his
foot and hand. He reacted to a pocketknife scraped across his foot and to
pressure applied under a fingernail. After 48 days in the hospital, he was
allowed to return home, where he continues to work on his recovery.
On Monday, he and his family were in New York, appearing on NBC's
"Today."
"I feel pretty good. but it's just hard ... just ain't got the
patience," Dunlap told NBC.
Dunlap, 21, of Frederick, said he has no
recollection of the crash.
"I remember a little bit that was about an hour before the accident
happened. But then about six hours before that, I remember," he said.
Dunlap said one thing he does remember is hearing the doctors
pronounce him dead.
"I'm glad I couldn't get up and do what I wanted to do,"
he said.
Asked if he would have wanted to get up and shake them and say he's
alive, Dunlap responded: "Probably would have been a broken window that went
out."
His father, Doug, said he saw the results of the brain
scan.
"There was no activity at all, no blood flow at all."
Zach's mother, Pam, said that when she discovered he was still
alive, "That was the most miraculous feeling."
"We had gone, like I said, from the lowest possible emotion that a
parent could feel to the top of the mountains again," she said.
She said her son is doing "amazingly well," but still has problems
with his memory as his brain heals from the traumatic injury.
"It may take a year or more ... before he completely recovers," she
said. "But that's OK. It doesn't matter how long it takes. We're just all so
thankful and blessed that we have him here."
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
DOES BRAIN-DEAD MEAN "DEAD" OR JUST LIBERAL AND ANTI-LIFE?
One has to wonder about the definition of brain-dead, after this man, who was declared brain-dead, came back to life and started appearing on talk shows:
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