The original article can be found in: Metro UK By Aidan Radnedge
A patient who was thought to be dead ‘woke up’ moments before her organs were about to be removed for donor transplants.
Colleen Burns opened her eyes just as surgeons prepared to cut into her.
The operation on the 41-year-old was halted and an investigation launched by US health authorities into the blunder.
A series of mistakes at St Joseph’s hospital in Syracuse, New York, led to Ms Burns being confirmed as dead after a drugs overdose.
Her family was told she was brain dead and her life support machine was switched off. In reality, she was in a coma and doctors had failed to carry out enough tests to confirm there was no brain activity.
Lucille Kuss, Ms Burns’ mother, said doctors never explained what went wrong. ‘They were just kind of shocked themselves,’ she said.
Ms Burns was later discharged from the hospital in 2009 but 16 months later committed suicide. Details of the incident were revealed after the hospital was fined following an inquiry.
