The family and emergency room staff met to clarify what would happen in the next several hours. They understood that when Sharon was taken to surgery to harvest her organs, she would still be breathing, and her heart would still be beating, to keep her organs alive as long as possible. But she knew Sharon was not getting better. She had been severely injured, I could see that when I walked into the room. But many people remain skeptical of the organ donor process thanks to perpetuated myths.
Doctors sometimes confuse families by asking their permission to turn off the ventilator.
Annas said that since the person is dead, the issue of turning off the ventilator should never be brought up with the family. In some cases brain dead patients were even sent home to their families on ventilators. Her mother sent the researchers a picture of the girl wearing a bikini floating on a raft in their pool. Such circumstances are, indeed, unusual. Transplant organizations hope they can educate families to understand the meaning of brain death and the organ donation process.