(WWJ) Praying for a miracle, they refuse to believe the dire prognosis offered by medical professionals.
So instead of removing Bobby Reyes, 14, from life support, his family and friends are rallying this morning outside the Washtenaw County Courthouse. They're praying, picketing and demanding that the court refuse the doctor's order to remove the boy from life support. Reyes, from Ash Township, has been on life support for a week following a massive asthma attack that left him unable to function.
His mother Sarah Jones told WDIV she understands that he's brain dead, but she wants to leave him on life support in case "God wants to perform a miracle." She is at the courthouse in Ann Arbor seeking a legal injunction to stop the hospital from taking Bobby off life support.
She has plenty of supporters in a Facebook group dedicated to forcing the hospital to keep the boy's body alive.
"I pray that this judge has children of his/her own so that they can empathize with Sarah and Jose, and feel the pain that they are going through," Kathy Konkel wrote. "Lord hear our prayers."
Many on the Facebook group accuse the hospital of wanting to kill him to harvest his organs.
Others say they believe the power of God and prayer could prove the doctors wrong.
"I have an older friend who was hit by a truck and taken to Southshore Hospital,' Rhonda Flick wrote on Facebook. "He was flat-lined brain dead. The day they were going to remove him from machines he started moving and coming around. He is still around, has brain damage but is able to ride his bicycle and is near 90 yrs old."
Another wrote, "I still can't believe that doctors have the power over the parents to make this decision, and on top of everything else that they are going through, they have to fight them in court!"
Mott Children's Hospital, which plans to remove Reyes from life support on Friday if another round of tests confirm he is brain dead, issued this statement:
"All of us empathize with the extraordinarily emotional process that families facing such matters go through.
"Our team of highly experienced and specialized nurses, doctors and other health professionals exhaust every available option to help patients who are critically ill.
"Multiple pediatric experts research available treatments, including those that are experimental, and consult with other institutions across the country. If another hospital provides technology or treatment not available at Michigan Medicine -- and the patient's family chooses to go elsewhere-- our hospital will facilitate transferring the patient.
"And, our care teams work hard providing families with extensive support when their children's health continues to worsen despite treatment."
