March 21, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Three years after Jahi McMath was declared “brain-dead,” her mother has posted a photo she says shows “beautiful Jahi, doing very well, hair, skin and all very healthy, growing into a beautiful young lady right in front of her mothers eyes.”
LifeSiteNews was not able to verify the photo on the family's Facebook page – “Keep Jahi McMath on life support” – but other news outlets had the photo that was attributed to McMath's mother, Nailah Winkfield.
“Jahi Will Rise,” said the Facebook post, the first on the page since the new year and the first update on McMath since December. “A recent picture of beautiful Jahi, doing very well, hair, skin and all very healthy, growing into a beautiful young lady right in front of her mothers eyes. God has done and is still doing great things in this young girls life. Jahi's Journey and Miracle is a story and testimony to be told.”
McMath's story of survival goes back to 2013, after she had routine surgery for sleep apnea and to remove her tonsils. She ended up in cardiac arrest for two hours and was declared brain-dead in a California hospital.
Her story made national news after her parents refused to allow doctors to remove the care keeping her alive. After a multi-year battle, they were allowed in 2014 to remove McMath to a St. Peter's Children's Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
McMath's parents have sued the doctor who did the surgery, claiming he did not inform them of the risks to their then-13-year-old daughter, who has a rare condition that caused hemorrhaging after the surgery. They are also fighting to have her death certificate changed to declare their daughter alive so that insurance will cover her care.
In addition to photos and videos from McMath's parents showing her still alive, she has been examined by at least one physician and, according to a court document, regularly experiences menstrual cycles.