Danella Gallegos was 38 and homeless in 2022, when she fell into a coma, with doctors telling her family it was unlikely she would recover

An organ donation service pushed for the removal of the comatose woman’s body parts even after she showed signs of life, medical staff allege

Loved ones agreed to donate her organs, but as preparations began, they saw tears in Gallegos’ eyes

Doctors at the Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, NM, gasped when they asked Gallegos to blink her eyes and she complied

Hospital workers claim that coordinators from the New Mexico Donor Services called on the operation to happen anyway, shrugging off the movement as ‘just reflexes’

Doctors defied the coordinator and took Gallegos out of surgery and she made a full recovery

In 2022, Danella Gallegos [photo], fell into a coma and doctors told her family she would likely never recover. Withe pre-op prep to her harvest her organs underway, she showed signs of life

An organ donation service pushed for the removal of a comatose woman’s body parts even after she showed signs of life, medics allege.
Danella Gallegos was 38 and homeless in 2022 when she fell into a coma.
After doctors told the family there was little or no probability that she would recover, the agreed to donate her organs. However, with pre-surgery preparations underway they observed tears in Danella’s eyes.
Doctors at the Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque gasped when they asked the comatose woman to blink her eyes and she complied.
Despite the evidence of brain function hospital workers allege, the coordinators from the New Mexico Donor Services pressed for the operation to proceed anyway, shrugging off the movement as ‘just reflexes’.
Doctors defied the coordinator and took Gallegos out of surgery and she went on to full recovery.
‘I feel so fortunate. But it’s also crazy to think how close things came to ending differently,’ says Gallegos who has lodged a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services, prompting an investigation into the incident.

Danella Gallegos’ family urged doctors to call off the surgery. Doctors at the Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, NM agreed, defied directives and saved her. She fully recovered and lodged a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services

New Mexico Donor Services says it serves two million people in the state by ‘connecting organ and tissue donations to the patients who need them’.
But investigations revealed that some procurement organizations rush this process, such as approaching a patient’s relatives before they have decided to switch off life support.
Pressure from the top, coupled with the short span for viability of organs post humus, has led to organ removal surgeries called ‘donation after circulatory death’. This process accounted for a third of all organ donations in the past year.
Unlike most organ donors, who are brain-dead, patients have some brain function but are on life support, in a coma and aren’t expected to recover. Doctors switching off life support must wait for a patient’s heart to stop beating within two hours for their organs to be viable.

Misty Lynn Hawkins [photo], 42, died after doctors noticed she was alive in the middle of an organ harvest surgery

The accidents and errors arising in the hasty decision to harvest organs from otherwise viable human life has happened before.
In one notable case, Misty Hawkins, 42, who choked while eating and fell into a coma, remained comatose for weeks when her family decided to donate her organs in May 2024. Doctors declared her dead 103 minutes after turning off life support.
A surgeon sawed through her breastbone, only to find Misty’s heart was still beating and she was breathing. Despite stopping the procedure, Hawkins died a short time later.
The hospital said it had correctly followed its protocols and that Misty was declared dead after ‘five minutes’ of no vital signs or cardiopulmonary function’, referring to the heart and lungs.
Misty was the third circulatory death donation attempt ever carried out at Flowers Hospital, a trauma center in Dothan, Alabama.

In the case of Anthony ‘TJ’ Hoover, [photo], another victim of premature organ harvesting ,a federal inquiry found, despite improvements in his neurological condition, a donation service continued to push for an operation to harvest organs

When Hoover was taken for the retrieval, he shook his head and cried and doctors refused to take him off life support. Hoover now lives with his sister, Donna Rhorer [right], has neurological problems after going through the operation despite evidence of brain function

During a congressional committee last year, lawmakers heard of Anthony Hoover, who had an overdose in 2021.
Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II, 36, was rushed to Baptist Health Richmond Hospital in Kentucky after overdosing on drugs in October 2021. Unresponsive for two days, his family decided to donate his organs.
A federal inquiry found that his neurological condition later improved, yet a donation service continued to push for an operation.
When Hoover was taken for the retrieval, he shook his head and cried and doctors refused to take him off life support. Investigators found that while Hoover has recovered, he suffered neurological injurie