Surgeons in Kentucky were about to begin removing organs from a man, but they realized he might still be alive and refused to remove them, witnesses told National Public Radio (NPR) Thursday. told.

The patient, 36-year-old Anthony Thomas “TJ” Huber II, was rushed to Baptist Health Hospital in Richmond in October 2021 for an apparent overdose, Huber’s sister said. NPR.

Hoover was pronounced dead and his body was taken in a wheelchair to the operating room, where it was awaited by Natasha Miller, who works to preserve donated organs for transplants, Miller told NPR. (Related: Selena Gomez’s organ donor reportedly upset star who keeps drinking)

‘Horrifying’ mistake of harvesting organs from living people avoided, says witness https://t.co/2KK8LSeKo1 pic.twitter.com/2qTOzuFa8Y

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Hoover was pronounced dead, but Miller told NPR that Hoover appeared to be alive.

“He was moving around, kind of flopping around, moving around on the bed, writhing around,” Miller said. “And when we got there, we saw him in tears. He was visibly crying.”

Miller told NPR that two doctors, upon seeing Hoover’s condition, immediately refused to participate in the retrieval surgery.

“The surgeon who did the surgery was like, ‘This is it.’ I don’t want anything to do with it,” Miller said. “It was a very chaotic situation. Everyone was very upset.”

Miller, who works for Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA), told NPR that she heard case coordinators calling their supervisors asking for guidance.

“So the coordinator calls her boss at the time, and she tells him that he needs her to “find another doctor to take on it,” meaning that “we were going to take on this case.” she said. She needs to find someone else,” Miller insists.

Nicoletta Martin, another organ preservation activist, told NPR that organ retrieval has been halted, but that she and other KODA employees have resigned because of the incident.

“That’s everyone’s worst nightmare, right? Being alive during surgery and knowing that someone is going to cut you open and take out your body parts?” Martin said. “That’s scary.”

Martin said she was upset by KODA’s decision to downplay the incident, NPR reported.

“KODA does not collect organs from living patients,” a KODA spokesperson said. independent personadding, “KODA has never pressured the team to do so.”

The Kentucky Attorney General’s Office is “investigating” the incident, according to a statement sent to NPR.

“Patient safety is always our top priority. We work closely with patients and their families to ensure their wishes for organ donation are honored.” Baptist Health Richmond he told NPR in a statement.