The family of a New York City college student in a coma after brain surgery is trying to stop a hospital from removing the young woman from life support.
Amber Ebanks, 23, a business student at Monroe College, suffered a ruptured arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in February, her family said. GoFundMe.
She underwent a planned surgery on July 30 at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx to stop the bleeding, but suffered a massive stroke during the operation and was placed in a medically induced coma.
The hospital declared her brain dead and wanted to pull the plug, but the Ebanks family is fighting through civil court to keep her on life support until she can be transferred to a care facility.
‘She [Montefiore Hospital] “They are some of the cruelest people I have ever known,” her sister Kay Ebanks said. ABC13.
Amber suffered a ruptured arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in February and had to undergo a planned surgery on July 30 to embolize the blood vessel.
Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx declared her brain dead, but the Embanks family is in a legal battle to keep them from pulling the plug
“She was perfectly fine and it’s unbelievable the condition she’s in now. And that they’re taking her off the ventilator in less than a month.”
The family’s attorney, Chauncey Henry, told DailyMail.com that they were able to obtain a temporary restraining order from the hospital to keep Amber on life support.
After Amber suffered her AVM rupture, she was able to live a normal life again. She drove herself to the scheduled surgery and wrote down the advice the doctors gave her.
AVMs are abnormal tangles of blood vessels that can cause irregular connections between arteries and veins. They often originate in the spinal cord and brain.
Amber’s surgery was planned to embolize the blood vessel — a medical procedure intended to prevent or stop bleeding.
The family says they were given no reason why the hospital was so eager to end Amber’s care.
“How can you decide something like that when someone isn’t awake yet?” Henry said.
‘When it comes to brain injury, time is needed. We should not judge too quickly.
Amber Ebanks, 23, a business student at Monroe College, was placed on a ventilator after falling into a coma following brain surgery.
The family was able to obtain a temporary injunction against Montefiore (pictured) from keeping Amber on life support
“Like any muscle, the brain needs time to recover. Recovery takes three weeks.”
Amber’s father lives in Jamaica, where Amber is from, and is currently trying to get a visa to visit his daughter.
New Beginnings, a Long Island care facility, has agreed to take over Amber’s care.
“Everybody needs hope. You can’t just give up. You can’t just take them off life support if they need more time,” Allyson Scerri, founder of New Beginnings, told the local news station.
DailyMail.com reached out to Montefiore Hospital for comment. A spokesperson told ABC13 they could not comment due to patient privacy laws.