Doctors are surprised when man moves just before organs are harvested

A pastor from North Carolina who was officially declared dead scared the doctors when he showed signs of life while his organs were being prepared to be harvested, reported The New York Post. 

Ryan Marlow, a dad and pastor, had contracted the foodborne bacterial illness listeria and was rushed to the hospital las month. The bacteria caused his brain to swell and he eventually went into a coma. 

On August 27, doctors declared Ryan to be clinically brain dead and told his wife that he had passed away. Despite being in a coma, North Carolina law allows doctors to declare a person deceased if they do not have any brain activity. 

“[A nurse] said ‘Your husband has passed,'” his wife Megan told local news outlet WXII12. “Those were the words that were used.”

For the next few days, Ryan remained on life support as they prepared to harvest his organs. Yet three days later, when the family went to the hospital to say their goodbyes, her niece noticed that Ryan began to move his feet after being shown videos of his children. 

“I went into the hallway,” Megan recalled. “Literally the OR team was ready to take him, and I tell the nurse ‘I need tests done now to see if he’s brain dead.’“

A follow-up CT scan showed that blood was flowing to Ryan’s brain, showing that he was not clinically brain dead and that the doctors had made a mistake. 

“Long story short, he’s not brain dead, my friends,” Megan said in a Facebook Live video posted from the hospital the following day.

For now, Ryan is still on life support and in a coma. While doctors believe he won’t be able to make a recovery, Megan and her family believe that there might be a second miracle. 

“He may still go to glory yet,” Megan stated. “[But] this is beyond medical help, this is in the Lord’s hands.”