An California judge issued a court order Monday to keep 13-year-old Jahi McGrath, a comatose tonsillectomy patient, on a ventilator until Jan. 7.
The temporary restraining order by the Alameda County judge, extended a hour before it was set to expire, brought tears to the eyes of Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield, who told reporters gathered outside the hospital her prayers were answered,
the Los Angeles Times reported.
"Who wants to know the date and the time their child would die?''
Winkfield told NBC Bay Area. "I don't care what anyone has to say about what I'm doing. ... I have to do what is right for me and for Jahi.''
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Her daughter is not dead because her heart is still beating, she said.
Chris Dolan, the attorney representing Jahi McMath's family, tweeted the family’s reaction to keep Jahi on life support longer.
Complications three days after a complex tonsillectomy surgery on Dec. 12 left Jahi “brain-dead,” which means she is unable to breathe without a ventilator and has no brain flow to the brain or any indications of electrical activity there.
Still, the family is fighting the hospital's decision to remove Jahi from a ventilator.
The hospital will comply with the order while its attorneys "attempt to deal with this in court," said Sam Singer, Children's Hospital Oakland spokesman, the newspaper reported.
Jahi’s family wants another medical facility to care for the teenager who has been pronounced legally dead by six physicians.
So far the family has raised $27,000 on GoFundMe.com to move her,
CNN reported.
The New Beginnings Community Center in Medford, N.Y., is willing to take Jahi, NBC Bay Area reported.
Dolan, the attorney, said Monday that he was fighting "for the right of parents to direct the healthcare of their child and for them to make the choice.''
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