![]() ![]() These include the pupils not responding to light, having no cough or gag reflex and being unresponsive to pain. Six tests need to be met before a person can be declared as a brain stem death. When the brain stem stops working, it cannot send messages to the body to control any functions and cannot receive messages back from the body. This pressure and swelling pushes the brain through a small opening at the base of the skull, which can not always be stopped or reversed. This causes pressure to build up, leading to a drop in blood flow to the brain and damage to tissue. If damaged - through trauma in Archie's case, or through bleeding, infections or tumours - it swells up but has no room to expand because it is encased inside the skull. The brain stem is located at the bottom of the brain and controls consciousness, awareness, breathing and the ability to regulate heart and blood pressure. ![]() Writing in an FAQ page, it said: 'If anyone claims to have recovered from brain death, then the diagnosis was incorrect.' He later woke up, recovered and went home seven weeks later.īut the Neurocritical Care Society, a network of more than 2,000 healthcare workers, says it is impossible. But his arm moved while he was being prepared for organ donation. Zack Dunlap, a 21-year-old from Oklahoma, told of how he heard doctors tell his family he was brain dead following a scan. However, those who wake up are often minimally conscious, unable to communicate and have to be fed through a tube.ĭozens of people claim to have beaten brain death in the past. One year after going into a vegetative state, around 43 per cent will regain consciousness, 34 per cent die and 23 per cent are still vegetative. This is because their brain stem, which controls breathing and heartbeat, still functions, meaning they may show signs of being awake - such as being able to open their eyes. Whereas, it is scientifically possible for someone in a vegetative state to recover. It does not indicate that the brain is still working. ![]() But this is simply down to reflexes triggered by nerves in the spine that are not linked with the brain. Occasionally, the limbs and torso can move. However, this is solely down to life support machines - not because the person has miraculously regained the ability to do this themselves. The NHS says it can be 'confusing' because brain dead people can still have a beating heart and their chest will 'rise and fall with every breath'. They are legally confirmed as dead, with the time on their death certificate logged when they fail a catalogue of tests. ![]() It is permanent, meaning the affected person will never regain consciousness or start breathing on their own again. This is different to a 'vegetative state' which happens after extensive brain damage, like that suffered by F1 racing legend Michael Schumacher in a catastrophic skiing accident in 2013. Published: 10:57 BST, 2 August 2022 | Updated: 13:48 BST, 2 August 2022Īrchie's doctors insist he is 'brain dead'.
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