Trish brushed away a tear as she thought about what the police had told her. Kate’s car had been seen sliding off the road into a tree on the wet road yesterday morning. A passing cyclist had reported talking to Kate. After determining that she was okay and that the car could be driven despite the damage to the front end, he had gone on his way.
The doctors thought that Kate had hit her head when the accident occurred and, although she initially felt okay, a headache probably had developed a few hours later due to a subdural hematoma. Trish felt some vague relief that the sleeping pills hadn’t been the problem after all, but it didn’t stop another tear from rolling down her cheek. When they brought Kate back from the operating room, Dr. Timms had stressed the severity of the situation. He had gone back over events from the time of the accident until the completion of surgery and finally talked gently about why monitoring of the pressure inside the brain, and of the function of Kate’s brain, was so important.
Originally published at http://www.sciencecases.org/brain_death/brain_death3.asp
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