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December 18, 2013

Teen brain dead after tonsillectomy; mother blames hospital  

OAKLAND, CA (KGO/CNN) – A California woman believes a hospital is trying to cover up what happened to her daughter, after the 13-year-old girl became brain dead after complications with a tonsillectomy.

"[I need to go] Make sure that they not trying to go in her room and do anything to her," Nailah Winkfield said, shortly before returning to the bedside of her 13-year-old daughter, Jahi McMath.

Winkfield said Jahi went to Children's Hospital last Monday to have her tonsils removed, but there were complications. After the surgery, her daughter suffered a heart attack.

Medical staff revived her, but doctors say she is now brain dead.

"No one called the doctor until it was too late. That's the problem. My daughter drowned on her own blood, and now I know it's Monday morning; it's business time and everybody's trying to cover it up. But you can't cover it up, because God is going to help me find out the truth," Winkfield said.

The teen's family is demanding answers, claiming the hospital is pressuring them to remove Jahi from life support.

"And I'm still going to fight to keep her on, but they are just not compassionate. My daughter is a bed space. They need to get her out of there, so they can move the next person's child in there and kill them, too," Winkfield said.

In a written statement released Monday, the chief of pediatrics says, "we are reviewing her case very closely…our hearts go out to her family and we want to support them during this extremely difficult time."

Winkfield says her family continues to pray, hoping for a miracle, but news station KGO says the family will take Jahi off life support on Tuesday.

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