Testimony on Organ Procurement Practices

Hello all, Senator Kennedy,

Administrator Ingalls, I'm Donna Rohr,

T.J. Hoover's sister. I was there.

I saw what happened to my brother.

They prepared to recover his organs while he was still alive.

During that honor walk, his eyes were open.

He was tracking me, and they told me it was just reflexes.

Then during the heart cath, he was thrashing,

crying, and grabbing the doctor's hands to stop him.

Even after those signs, the organ procurement process continued until the physician refused to proceed.

One of the organization's own coordinators called the home office after the doctor refused.

She was told,

find another surgeon or you'll lose your job because we're finishing this case.

My brother almost died that day.

That should never happen to anyone.

Laws and standards were clearly violated.

Those responsible must be held accountable.

When they finally stopped and acknowledged T.J. was still alive, they sent him home with me and said,

make him comfortable. He will not last.

Well, it's been five years and he's still here.

I'm grateful every day for that, but he is not the same.

He has nightmares.

He struggles remembering things. And he asked me, sis, why did they want to kill me?

I don't have an answer for him. I'm just his sister.

But I know what I saw.

I had to quit my job to take care of him full time.

We're barely scraping by. My life is taking care of my brother and it wears me out

sometimes. But this isn't just about T.J. Families deserve confidence that every patient is treated safely and every safeguard is followed before organ recovery is ever considered.

We're talking about real lives and real families like mine. I want immediate action beginning here in Kentucky.

I want every person who hurt T.J. and other patients identified and held accountable under the law.

All of these people should never be allowed to provide patient care again because if we don't act,

this will happen again. I'm not going anywhere. I'm T.J.'s sister and I will keep fighting until the people responsible are held accountable.

So no other family has to live what we're living through.

Thank you for coming, Mr. Kennedy.

We know patient safety matters to you and I hope you'll help make sure this never happens to another family again.

Thank you. Thank you.