Kentucky Man Declared Brain Dead Wakes Up While Doctors Attempted to Harvest his Organs

As the Commonwealth gets into a spooky spirit while preparing for Halloween, one Kentucky man lived through a nightmare.

In October 2021, Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II was rushed to Baptist Health Hospital in Richmond, Kentucky for a drug overdose. Hoover experienced cardiac arrest and was declared brain dead.

The tragedy would have a silver lining. Hoover was an organ donor. Over the next two days, hospital officials ran tests to see which organs were viable for harvesting. That’s when things took a turn, his sister Donna Rohrer told WKYT.

“We had his honor walk Friday afternoon. During his honor walk, his eyes started opening up,” she said. “He was tracking. His eyes were tracking us around. We were told it was just reflexes, just a normal thing. Who are we to question the medical system?”

It wasn’t “just reflexes.” Upon arriving in the operating room, a nurse quickly realized he was not brain dead. Hoover was very much alive.

“He was moving around — kind of thrashing. Like, moving, thrashing around on the bed,” Natasha Miller told NPR. “And then when we went over there, you could see he had tears coming down. He was crying visibly.”

Doctors in the operating room quickly realized Mr. Hoover was not brain dead and halted the procedure.

“The procuring surgeon, he was like, ‘I’m out of it. I don’t want to have anything to do with it,’ ” Miller says. “It was very chaotic. Everyone was just very upset.”

Fortunately for Hoover, it was not too little too late. He remained on life support long enough to survive the nightmare scenario. His sister was told to take him home and make him comfortable. He would not have long to live. She’s been caring for her brother for three years now.

The near-death experience in the Kentucky hospital is now under investigation by state and federal authorities.

“Terrifying” is one way to describe this scenario, but there are plenty of other words you can use for this real-life horror story. Thankfully, it’s at least one this Kentucky man can share, alive and well.