- Feb 20:
- Jahi McMath: Complete text of letter from brain-dead girl's mother
- Feb 19:
- Jahi McMath 'much better,' her mother says
- Feb 3:
- Data Center: Tonsillectomy hemorrhage rates by California hospital
- Feb 1:
- Jahi McMath: Is it safe to have tonsil surgery at Children's Hospital Oakland?
- Jan 27:
- Jahi McMath video claims to show her feet and toes move
- Jan 25:
- Jahi McMath: five similar brain death legal cases
- Jahi McMath: Could her case change how California determines death?
- Jan 10:
- Mercury News editorial: Jahi McMath story demonstrates Americans need to talk more about death
- Jan 9:
- Jahi McMath: Medical experts say organ failure inevitable
- Jan 8:
- Jahi McMath: Girl given breathing, feeding tubes, attorney says
- Jan 7:
- Jahi McMath: Streetfighting lawyer takes heat, death threats for brain-dead Oakland girl's family
- Jan 6:
- Jahi McMath: Family says brain-dead teen's body may be too deteriorated to save
- Document: Medical analysis of Jahi McMath's deteriorating condition
- Jahi McMath: Brain-dead girl moved to undisclosed care facility
- Jan 5:
- Jahi McMath: Brain-dead teen's family moves her from Children's Hospital Oakland
- Jahi McMath: Timeline of events in case of brain-dead Oakland teen
- Jan 3:
- Jahi McMath: Mom can remove brain-dead daughter from hospital, judge rules
- Jan 2:
- Jahi McMath: Case heads to federal court Friday
- Dec 31:
- Jahi McMath may be transferred to treatment center in New York
- Jahi McMath: Terri Schiavo group secretly leading transfer efforts
- Jahi McMath: Hospital fights in court to remove brain-dead girl from ventilator
- Dec 30:
- Jahi McMath: Judge extends order keeping girl on ventilator
- Dec 29:
- Jahi McMath: Statement of Children's Hospital Oakland
- Jahi McMath: Mom and lawyer say only remaining option for brain-dead girl is a New York care facility
- Dec 28:
- Jahi McMath: Family, attorney release letter addressing critics
- Jahi McMath: Family trying to raise money to get 13-year-old airlifted out of state
- Dec 27:
- Jahi McMath: Hospital open to transferring brain-dead teen but won't perform surgery required by admitting facilities
- Jahi McMath: Children's Hospital Oakland agrees to release brain-dead girl to long-term care
- Document: Response from Children's Hospital allowing Jahi's transfer
- Mercury News editorial: No one recovers from being brain dead
- Dec 26:
- Jahi McMath: Family ready to move brain-dead girl to new facility; hospital may refuse surgery request
- Jahi McMath: 2 years ago, a girl wound up severely brain damaged following similar surgery
- Herhold: At bottom, the Jahi McMath story is a tale of a mother's guilt
- Jahi McMath: Family says they'll move brain-dead girl to another Bay Area facility
- Dec 25:
- Jahi McMath: Family tries to have normal holiday celebration in hospital waiting room
- Dec 24:
- Jahi McMath: A mother's undeniable love is lost in divisive battle
- Document: Hospital's petition opposing an independent expert, asking to lift the order to keep Jahi McMath on life support
- Jahi McMath: Judge denies petition to keep girl on ventilator past Dec. 30
- Dec 23:
- Document: Order for outside doctor to examine Jahi McMath
- Document: Modified temporary restraining order to keep Jahi McMath on life support
- Jahi McMath: Judge extends order to keep brain-dead girl on ventilator
- Dec 22:
- Oakland: Need for tonsillectomies in question
- Dec 21:
- Jahi, her mom and 13 days at Children's Hospital Oakland
- Jahi McMath: Medicine's ability to keep a heart beating complicates how death is perceived
- Oakland: Emotional letter from Jahi McMath's mom to keep daughter 'warm'
- Judge grants restraining order keeping brain dead Oakland girl on ventilator through Monday
- Dec 20:
- Family of Oakland girl on ventilator furious after meeting with hospital officials
- Dec 18:
- Jahi McMath prayer vigil: 'God knows we want a miracle'
- Chat transcript: End of life care: How decisions are made to end life support
- Dec 17:
- Document: Order not to remove Jahi McMath from life support
- Dec 16:
- Oakland: Girl declared brain dead after tonsil surgery may be taken off life support Tuesday
- Oakland girl, 13, declared brain-dead after tonsil surgery
The family of Jahi McMath will receive an award next month from the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network at the organization's award gala, the nonprofit announced Thursday.
The Oakland family will receive the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Award, which honors an individual or family that "fights to protect the dignity of a loved one against overwhelming odds," according to a news release by Bobby Schindler, Schiavo's brother.
"The award to the McMath family recognizes the unconditional love they have for Jahi, and their courage as they continue the fight for their daughter against overwhelming odds," Schindler, the executive director of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, said in an email to this newspaper. He said Jahi's mother, father, uncle and grandmother plan to attend the March 27 awards gala.
"I am grateful for the award, I just wish it was under different terms," Omari Sealey, Jahi's uncle, said in a text message. "At the end of the day, my niece is still battling a horrific injury and it still hurts every day."
On Dec. 9, 13-year-old Jahi went into Children's Hospital Oakland to undergo tonsil surgery and two other procedures to treat her severe sleep apnea. After significant post-surgical bleeding, she went into cardiac arrest and doctors declared her brain-dead. Her family fought through the courts to keep her on a ventilator, eventually securing her release from the hospital and sparking an international debate over end-of-life issues.
The family has recently said Jahi is "OK" at an undisclosed location, although critics argue that the girl died, as numerous doctors declared her brain activity had stopped, which equates to death in California. The Schiavo organization helped the family as they searched nationwide for a facility willing to accept a patient declared brain-dead.
"We are seeing a growing trend where physicians and hospital ethics committees are making medical decisions instead of family members," Schindler said in an email. "This was apparent in the case of Jahi McMath. Jahi's parents wanted to provide help for her after she experienced a profound brain injury while under hospital care, but their wish was denied. At the request of the family's attorney, Terri's Life & Hope Network intervened. We assembled a team of advocates that located a facility to provide the care Jahi needed, which gave her parents the opportunity to help their daughter."
The Pennsylvania-based nonprofit works to "protect the lives of the medically vulnerable from the threat of imposed death," according to its website.
In 2005, Schiavo's estranged husband won a court order to remove her from life support despite her family's opposition. She had been living for years in a permanent vegetative state, which is different from brain death. Her legal case, similar to Jahi's, brought contentious debate across the country on end-of-life decisions.
Jahi's family and their attorney did not immediately return requests for comment.
Radio personality and conservative talk show host Glenn Beck will speak at the March 27 awards gala in Philadelphia. Last year, former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker at the inaugural awards ceremony.
At that ceremony, the organization honored the parents of 20-month-old Joseph Maraachli, who suffered from a rare neurological disease that left him in a vegetative state. Similar to the Jahi case, a Canadian hospital refused to perform a tracheotomy on the infant and recommended he be removed from life support.
His parents appealed in Canadian courts but were denied.
Eventually, a religious group removed the boy from the hospital and sent him to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis, where doctors performed the tracheotomy, which allowed the boy to return home.
He died several months later at home.
"Terri's life and legacy serve as a cautionary reminder of the immediate threat placed upon hundreds of thousands of persons with cognitive disabilities," Schindler said in a release. "We encourage all people to reflect on the ethical considerations of caring for those unable to do so for themselves, and believe that families, not hospital boards or politics, should dictate outcomes. We have seen a rise in the need for our advocacy efforts, especially in light of the health care crisis in our country."
Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.