When Death Is Only the Beginning

On June 22, Jahi McMath’s mother announced that her dear daughter had died. Again. While the death of a child is always particularly tragic, few families have had to deal with it twice—with the same child.

Back in 2013, Jahi needed throat surgery that initially seems to have gone well, but in recovery, everything went wrong and Jahi suffered irrecoverable brain damage. She was eventually declared brain dead in December of 2013. Her family fought the diagnosis, first arguing that it wasn’t accurate and later rejecting the notion that being brain dead meant that Jahi was actually dead.