Quote Originally Posted by Queena View Post
Bingo! I've found an article that states that she is in fact dead. Her heart will NOT beat on it's own.


It would be one thing if she could breath on her own, however she can't. She's dead. It's time for the family to begin the healing process.

Here's the article. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-...ults-at-closed


It still doesn't change my feelings of uncertainty in declaring someone who can breath on their own dead. I hope I never have to be in a situation like this, or one where my loved can breath on their own, but is brain dead.
If someone is brain dead, they will not breathe on their own at all. It's the brain that needs to send the signal to her respiratory system to tell it to breathe. Brain dead means just that. The brain is dead. No activity. No signals firing. No blood flowing. Just a dead piece of flesh sitting in the skull. Nothing in the body will work. With the exception of a twitch here and there from left over electricity in the nerves.

The reason funeral homes sew people's eyes and mouths shut is because they could open from nerve reflexes. They also burp and fart because of gases still inside of the body. They're still dead.