'Girl Who Refused To Die' Woke Up From Coma As Doctors Discussed Harvesting Her Organs

'Girl Who Refused To Die' Woke Up From Coma As Doctors Discussed Harvesting Her Organs
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DR.dk

A teenager is being hailed as The Girl Who Refused To Die after she came out of a coma just as doctors were about to declare her brain dead.

As doctors gathered around Carina Melchior's bedside to discuss organ donation, the 19-year-old suddenly opened her eyes and started moving her legs.

Her family claim the medics - who Carina's dad described as 'bandits' - were prepared to let their daughter die because they were desperate to harvest her organs.

But Carina has made an amazing recovery and is now having treatment at a rehabilitation centre.

"Those bandits in white coats gave up too quickly because they wanted an organ donor," her father Kim told the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.

The family's lawyer Nils Fjeldberg, said Carina's parents were convinced that there was nothing else that could be done and agreed to donate her organs.

Carina, now 20, crashed her car in October last year and was was in hospital for three days before doctors realised her brain activity was fading and consulted her family about stopping treatment. It was at this point they agreed to donate her organs.

In a documentary about her life called 'The girl who wouldn't die', Carina says she is convinced she will recover and that hopes to move in to her own flat in the future.

The case has sparked a public debate in Denmark about donations and end-of-life treatments, with registered donors withdrawing consent in fear of doctors acting too quickly.

The doctors at Aarhus hospital have apologised for the failures in communication during Carina's treatment and have said they made a mistake.