Man declared dead wakes up on operating table moments before having organs removed in 'horrible' mistake

“This is everyone’s worst nightmare, right?” said organ preservationist Nyckoletta Martin. “Being alive during surgery and knowing that someone is going to open you up”

Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II was pronounced dead after a drug overdose
He was sent to a hospital to assess whether his heart was healthy enough to be donated.
He began showing signs of life in the operating room, alarming doctors, and the organ procurement organization is now being investigated following the alleged incident.

Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II was admitted to Baptist Health Richmond Hospital in October 2021 after a drug overdose and was later pronounced dead. His sister, Donna Rhorer, told NPR that she notified medical staff that the 36-year-old was a registered organ donor.

However, during his “walk of honor” — being wheeled into the operating room for organ donation while surrounded by loved ones and hospital staff — Rhorer and other family members expressed concern when Hoover appeared to open his eyes.

“It was like his way of letting us know, ‘Hey, I’m still here,’” she told the outlet, noting that staff told the family it was just a common reflex. Rhorer documented the emotional moment, which she later shared on TikTok.

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Natasha Miller was in the operating room when Hoover was taken into organ recovery surgery. Their work involves preserving donated organs for transplantation. She told the outlet that after seeing the patient, she immediately knew something was wrong and he didn’t look dead.

“He was moving — kind of flailing. Like, moving, thrashing on the bed,” she said. “And then when we went over there, you could see he was crying. He was visibly crying.”

Miller explained that Hoover’s condition alarmed everyone in the room, including two doctors who reportedly said they no longer felt comfortable participating in the organ harvest and refused to continue.

“The purchasing surgeon said, ‘I’m out of this. I don’t want anything to do with this,’” she recalled. “It was very chaotic. Everyone was very upset.”

Miller alleges that his supervisor was instructed by Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) to “find another doctor” to perform the surgery and proceed with organ recovery. She also claims that Hoover was sedated after his movements.

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The procedure ended up being cancelled. “They finally stopped the procedure because he was showing too many signs of life,” Rhorer said, adding that she took her brother back home and was told to make him comfortable because he wouldn’t live long.

Three years later, Hoover is still alive and being cared for by his sister as he has difficulty walking, speaking and remembering.

Several KODA employees say they resigned over the October 2021 incident, including another organ preservationist, Nyckoletta Martin.

“I dedicated my entire life to organ donation and transplantation. It’s very scary to me now that these things can happen and there are no longer measures in place to protect donors,” she told NPR.

Martin, along with other witnesses, has now come forward to testify about what happened during the organ recovery process. In September, she shared details about the alleged incident in a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which held a hearing to investigate organ procurement organizations.

“Several of us who were employees needed therapy. It affected a lot of people, especially me,” Martin said.

“This is everyone’s worst nightmare, right? Being alive during surgery and knowing that someone is going to open you up and remove parts of your body? she added. “This is horrible.”

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KODA has since denied the allegations, claiming in a statement that “this case was not accurately represented.”

“No one at KODA has ever been pressured to harvest organs from any living patient,” Julie Bergin – president and chief operating officer of Network for Hope, which was formed when KODA merged with the LifeCenter Organ Donor Network – said in a statement, NPR reports. “KODA does not recover organs from living patients. KODA has never pressured its team members to do this.”

The organization did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which helps oversee organ procurement, and the Kentucky state attorney general’s office said they are investigating the allegations.

An open letter from the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations addressed the incident.

“Our system of organ donation and transplantation is driven entirely by trust, and the American public should feel confident when registering as a donor that their donations will be respected and honored,” said Dorrie Dils, president of AOPO.

She later told NPR that incidents like this are “alarming” and should be properly reported and evaluated.

“Obviously, we want to ensure that individuals are, in fact, dead when organ donation is underway,” Dils said. “And we want the public to trust that this is really happening. The process is sacred.”

Rhorer admitted that she often feels angry as the incident unfolds.

“I feel betrayed by the fact that the people who told us he was brain dead and then woke up,” Rhorer told the outlet. “They are trying to play God. They’re almost, you know, picking and choosing – they’re going to take this person and save them. And you kind of lose faith in humanity a little bit.”

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