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In April, 2-year-old Israel Stinson suffered from a bout of asthma that was so severe, it caused him to suffer a cardiac arrest. Doctors at the UC Davis Medical Center managed to restart his heart, but by that time, Israel’s brain had already gone without oxygen for about an hour. He was declared brain-dead.
Israel’s doctors advised his parents – Jonee Fonseca and Nathaniel Stinson – to take Israel off life support and insert breathing and feeding tubes. Fonseca and Stinson, however, fought to keep their son on life support to recover.
The couple won, and later opened a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay for Israel’s medical bills. They did everything they could to gather support, even posting a video where Fonseca beseeched their viewers, “We are reaching out, hoping that anyone hospital right now is willing to take us in ... so that we can get him to in-home care and take care of him at home."
One month later, in May, doctors in Davis determined that Israel was brain dead. Fonseca and Stinson’s lawsuit to keep Israel on a ventilator was turned down.
The parents took their son to Guatemala, where doctors were reportedly still able to see Israel’s brain activity.
This was also when the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles agreed to admit Israel as a patient.
Fonseca and Stinson moved their son to the hospital in Los Angeles, continuing to hope that their son would show signs of improvement.
Just a few days later, doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, again, determined that Israel was brain dead and said he should be taken off life support.
Israel’s parents were in the middle of contacting their attorney, Alexandra Snyder, when it happened.
The hospital took Israel off life support. He passed away when his parents were still attempting to push back against the hospital’s decision.
Snyder recalled, “I was on the phone with [Fonseca] when the doctors disconnected [Israel]. They were in such a hurry to do it, they didn’t even sit down and explain what was going on.”
Many doctors and lawyers from the Life Legal Defense Foundation have weighed in on Israel’s case, and their opinions all slightly differ. Snyder, however, maintains that Fonseca and Stinson are “devastated” that they’ve lost their 2-year-old son after such a long battle to fight for his right to recover.
The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles has refrained from commenting “due to health privacy regulations.”
You can watch the official news clip here:
