It's A Miracle! Trenton McKinley, 13, wakes up just before doctors pull the plug. Trenton McKinley, now dubbed the ‘Miracle Boy’ regained consciousness just after his parents signed the paperwork to donate his organs.
The 13-year-old boy in the US state of Alabama suffered severe brain trauma when a car trailer he was riding on flipped over and fell on his head. Doctors told his parents he would not recover and that his organs were a match for five children who needed transplants.
A day before his life support was to end, Trenton showed signs of awareness. The teenager suffered seven skull fractures in the accident in Mobile, Alabama, in March.
A young boy who was said to be brain-dead defied the odds when he regained consciousness after his parents had signed papers to donate his organs. Trenton McKinley, of Mobile, Alabama, was hospitalized two months ago after a small utility trailer he was in flipped over.
Trenton McKinley regained consciousness after his parents agreed to donate his organs “I hit the concrete and the trailer landed on top of my head. After that, I don’t remember anything,” Trenton said.
Trenton suffered seven skull fractures from the accident. His parents recalled doctors saying their son “would never be normal again.”
His mum, Jennifer Reindl, told FOX10: “All I saw was a stretcher with his feet hanging out. He was dead a total of 15 minutes.
“When he came back, they said he would never be normal again. They told me the oxidation problems would be so bad to his brain, that he would be a vegetable if he even made it.”
The 13-year-old was hospitalized two months ago after a small utility trailer he was in flipped over
Trenton remained brain-dead and was barely breathing in the days following the crash
Trenton remained brain-dead and was barely breathing in the days following the crash.
His mother ultimately decided to sign papers to donate Trenton’s organs that would benefit five children who needed transplants.
“Five kids needed organs that matched him,” Reindl said.
“It was unfair to keep bringing him back, because it was just damaging his organs even more.” A day before doctors were going to take Trenton off of life support, the 13-year-old began showing signs of brain activity and movement.
Trenton began breathing on his own and woke up speaking full sentences in late March, his mother wrote on a Facebook fundraising page.
"When he came back they said he would never be normal again." Reindl said added that she agreed to sign donation papers when she was told her son's organs could save five lives.
"That also ensured that they would continue to keep Trenton alive to clean his organs for the donation," she said.
"The next day he was scheduled to have his final brain wave test to call his time of death, but his vitals spiked so they canceled the test." His mother called his recovery "a miracle", saying the teenager has been walking and talking and even reading and doing maths.