Jahi McMath, the 13-year-old Oakland, Calif., girl who was declared brain-dead back in December, is apparently doing much better, her mother, Nailah Winkfield, wrote in a letter released Wednesday on Twitter, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
The lengthy letter, which was also posted on a Facebook support group for the girl, thanks supporters while declaring that the girl is doing better and showing signs that give her mother hope:
“So many people have asked how we are doing and if Jahi is alive. This has and continues to be an unbelievably difficult time for me as a mother and for us as a family. I have withdrawn for reasons of safety and privacy and to focus on my daughter and my role as her mother. However, I have not been alone,” Winkfield wrote. “I have been surrounded by the love, support and prayers of so many kind people. Despite what people say about my daughter being dead and how I must be ignorant not to get that, I can tell you that she is much better physically since she has left Children's Hospital and I see changes that give me hope.”
She countered concerns about whether Jahi is suffering in this suspended state, saying that she would never do anything to hurt her daughter. She also thanked supporters for being unselfish and aiding the family in removing her from the hospital that wanted to remove the girl from life support.
“As I prayed today, I felt called to express to people that I am truly grateful for the amount of love and support my daughter Jahi McMath and I have received from people all over the world. We feel your prayer and support,” she wrote. “Because of your unselfish generosity I was able to do what I was afraid I would never be able to do, move my daughter from Children's Hospital Oakland before they removed her from her ventilator and stopped her heart.
“I know people are concerned and I want to make sure you know that Jahi is not suffering, she is surrounded by love. I will never let her suffer,” Winkfield added.
On Dec. 12, Jahi was declared legally dead following complications from a Dec. 9 tonsillectomy. Although multiple experts have confirmed that nothing else can be done for the girl, her family still clings to hope, months after moving her to an undisclosed facility that agreed to continue treating her.
“What you may not know is that her name, Jahi, means one who is known by many. Hopefully my daughter can change some of the ways brain death is viewed in today's society. Honestly, I think she already has,” the mother wrote.
Read more at the San Jose Mercury News.