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 Jahi McMath, 13, was transferred from Children's Hospital and
Research Center in Oakland, outside of San Francisco, where she had
remained without brain activity for nearly four weeks, to an
undisclosed Catholic care center on Sunday night.
Doctors at the new care center performed tracheostomy and
gastrostomy surgeries, Christopher Dolan, attorney for the girl's
family, said in a Twitter message on Wednesday.
"She is doing very well, and now getting the treatment she should
have gotten 28 days ago," Dolan said. "Doctors are optimistic that
her condition has stabilized."
The case has drawn international attention and the support of
pro-life groups, including one founded by the family of Terri
Schiavo, a Florida woman who died in 2005 after a 15-year battle
over whether to keep her body alive in a persistent vegetative
state.
It was not clear when the procedures took place. On Monday, Dolan
told a press conference that Jahi had "wasted away at Children's
Hospital (and) that she might not make it."
McMath was admitted to Children's Hospital on December 9 to have her
tonsils removed and for other procedures to address sleep apnea.
After the surgery, she went into cardiac arrest and suffered brain
swelling. The hospital declared her brain-dead on December 12 and
made plans to remove her from the ventilator, but her family has
fought in state and federal court to keep her on life support.
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A restraining order barring the hospital from removing that life
support had been set to expire on Tuesday.
An online fundraiser launched by Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield,
seeking to raise $20,000 to pay for her daughter's transfer exceeded
$55,000 on Wednesday.
The family and its lawyer have declined to give the name or general
location of Jahi's current care facility, saying they have received
threats of violence from members of the public who disagree with
their handling of Jahi's case.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney in San Francisco;
editing by Eric M.
Johnson and Lisa Shumaker)
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