Doctors at a Syracuse hospital came within inches of harvesting the organs of a live woman who woke on the operating table, despite previous reports by nurses indicating she was alive. Doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center mistakenly ruled that Colleen S. Burns, 41, had suffered a cardiac death. The mother of three from North Syracuse had overdosed on Xanax, Benadryl and a muscle relaxant but had not died, only slipped into a deep coma.

She was mistakenly declared brain dead by hospital staff, with the tragic news presented to Burns’ family who gave doctors permission to take her off life support and harvest her organs. One day before Burns’ organs were to be removed, a nurse noticed something eerie about the patient, a sign someone without a medical degree may even jump to see. Her toes curled from the simple reflex test of running a finger along her foot.

An investigation by the Health Department determined this and several other signs to come were shockingly ignored by doctors. Then, just before surgery, Burns’ nostrils were seen flared as though she was breathing independent of her respirator. Her lips and tongue were seen moving as well. Despite these signs, a nurse injected Burns with a sedative called Ativan just 20 minutes later, according to hospital records.

Just when the surgery was to begin, Burns’ eyes opened and gazed up at the bright lights hanging over her. It took that final sign to call it off.

Whoa. Picture this. You’re at home not feeling too well maybe stressed from a hectic life or haven’t slept well in a few days from a baby screaming like crazy. You decide to take a little too much medication and accidently fall asleep and fall into a really deep coma. Instead of waking up to the flowers and birds, you wake up to a series of doctor’s about to cut you open and give away your organs like a damn swap meet. On top of everything, these so called “doctors” didn’t believe you were alive. Plenty of nurses told them to give it time but nope they pronounced you dead on the spot. They even called all your family members to give them the bad news.

I think Hospital personnel in Syracuse really needs to re-evaluate whom they hire when it comes to saving peoples lives. Is Robin Williams’s aka “Patch Adams” running this facility? Or maybe it’s even Dr. Evil who’s behind all this. Either way, we are happy to report Colleen is now alive and healthy.

-D “The Deranged One” Huling