Comatose woman nearly had organs removed despite showing signs of life

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A comatose woman in New Mexico woke up just as doctors were set to harvest her organs for other patients.

Her family was told she would not fully recover and organ donation was for the best.

Danella Gallegos recalled the time in 2022 when she was 38 and homeless. She fell ill and was taken to Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque where she was placed on life support. Her family eventually agreed to donate her organs.

While doctors prepared for organ removal, Gallegos’ family noticed tears in her eyes, the New York Times reported last month, citing interviews with her family and eight hospital workers.

Their concerns were dismissed by physicians and explained as an involuntary reflex by the body.

On the day the organs were to be taken from her body, Gallegos was brought to a pre-surgery room to prepare for the removal of life support. However, one of her sisters noticed she began to move.

Doctors asked her to blink and she did. Everyone in the room was stunned.

“I feel so fortunate, obviously,” Gallegos told the Times. “But it’s also crazy to think how close things came to ending differently.”

Gallegos said she recalled feeling fear but not pain. She didn’t remember much else about her hospital stay.

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Hospital workers said the organization that procures organs had brushed off the family’s concerns that she was showing signs of life, suggesting morphine to stop her body’s movements.

Gallegos was lucky that the hospital refused despite facing pressure from New Mexico Donor Services to remove her organs.

“All they care about is getting organs,”said veteran intensive care nurse Neva Williams. “They’re so aggressive. It’s sickening.”

New Mexico Donor Services said in a statement to the Times that it doesn’t interfere with decisions made by doctors.

The hospital said it was reviewing Gallegos’s case while also noting that the company was responsible for managing all aspects of the donation process.

Two years later, after hearing about an aggressive organ donation case similar to hers, Gallegos filed a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services, which opened an investigation.