‘I Was Kicked Out Of A Bar Because Of My Wheelchair’

An 18‑year‑old woman, Maddie Haining, says she was kicked out of a Manchester nightclub because she uses a wheelchair. She describes the incident as embarrassing, infuriating, and discriminatory.

She had already been inside the venue for a few minutes when staff told her she had to leave because she was a “safety risk”—first without explanation, then later claiming she was a “fire risk.”

Security helped Maddie into the club, although at first, they insisted there was nothing wrong.

After her friend went to buy a drink, security returned and apologetically said they had been told to remove her.

The manager, according to Maddie, was “really, really rude” and refused to explain the decision.

Maddie showed staff the Equality Act 2010 on her phone, which states that wheelchair users cannot be excluded based on evacuation concerns—venues must have inclusive evacuation plans.

She says the manager dismissed this and reiterated the same line without engaging.

Maddie eventually left but asked for staff details so she could file a complaint.

According to the club, an internal inquiry is underway.

Following Maddie’s allegation, Manchester City Council is also investigating the event.

Under the Equality Act 2010, venues must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. That includes:

Ensuring access

Providing ramps or support where practical

Having evacuation plans that include wheelchair users

Removing someone because they use a wheelchair can be considered disability discrimination.

This case highlights:

  • How often must disabled people advocate for their rights
  • How poorly some venues understand their legal obligations
  • The emotional toll of being singled out in public spaces
  • The gap between written equality law and real‑world practice

Maddie’s frustration is evident: she knew her rights, she showed the law, and she was still ignored. The embarrassment of being escorted out—after already being allowed in—adds to the sense of unfairness.

This isn’t just about one night out. It’s about disabled people being treated as pests to remove rather than customers to accommodate.

I’m sure that many people have their views on this, but before you do, think about how anybody can go from having excellent health to having a serious disability, and this is discrimination at its finest, and the council should take away their license until they address this issue. I’m glad that she called them out. It’s 2026, not 1826, and they should be inclusive and know better.

I myself am a wheelchair user, and clubs should be wheelchair friendly. In fact, everywhere should be wheelchair friendly and accessible, and if they are not, they should be. Not that I would be seen in a club at my age, but I do like comedy nights, but usually they are not accessible.

The UK is a joke when it comes to accessibility, even down to WC admission. Cafe tables are poorly designed, and even most disabled toilets are too small for a wheelchair, and are badly designed. These new homes they are building are not designed with wheelchairs in mind, because they are building rabbit hutches. Suddenly, humans have become an experiment.

According to the legislation, all establishments must be able to accommodate wheelchair users; if they are unable to do so, they must close until they can.

This was clearly a gay bar, which is supposed to be inclusive, but evidently, this bar isn’t inclusive because if it had been, she would have been allowed to stay.

If you live in Rome, do as the Romans do!

The argument today is that if you choose to live in a foreign country, you must accept that country’s laws and cultural customs.

In other words, ‘If you live in Rome, do as the Romans do.’

Many immigrants have come over from other countries over the years, and they have integrated and even speak English, both outside the home and inside the home.

If a foreigner moves to another country, they have a duty to adapt to that country, and they must accept their laws, respect their customs, and learn their language to be able to communicate with people, businesses and government officials. Just seems like common sense to me – by the way, does anyone remember common sense? Yes, we had it years ago, but I’ve seen very little of it lately.

It’s a bit like moving into someone’s home – you would have to respect their rules, and if you didn’t, you were free to leave.

I’m not saying they can’t bring some of their customs with them – that would be foolish to think that they wouldn’t, but they also have to remember that this is the UK, and they need to adapt. What they do inside their own homes is up to them, but outside, they need to embody the British way of life, but these boat people don’t have any respect for our country or the British people who live here.

The problem is that our government permits these individuals to continue as they see fit.

If they had migrated to say Saudi Arabia and they caused trouble, they would have been deported or ended up in prison and given lashes – perhaps they should do that here in the UK.

It’s called tolerance and respect, and how the dice would fall if I were to wear a bikini, say in Afghanistan – many rocks would be thrown at me, I suspect, and in Egypt, even on holiday, you would be stoned for even showing some cleavage.

My great-grandmother was from Romania. They came for a better life, and they did assimilate, but sadly, she could never grasp the English language, but she made herself understood, and she even changed her name to a more anglicised one. She had six children, and she made sure that all of them spoke the English language fluently.

The message is loud and clear – either fall in line or get booted. Could someone explain this to Starmer, please?

Fuel Prices Soar Amid Fears Of Supply Shortages

Due to skyrocketing fuel prices brought on by the Middle East conflict, two of Europe’s largest airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights.

German carrier Lufthansa said today that a regional subsidiary, Lufthansa CityLine, will suspend operations from Saturday due to high kerosene prices and labour disputes.

And Dutch airline KLM has withdrawn 160 flights across the next month as a consequence of growing fuel prices. 

It comes as officials are war-gaming for shortages sparked by the Iran war as early as the late May bank holiday, threatening thousands of families’ getaway plans just as the peak season starts.

They are already facing increased fares because the price of jet fuel has doubled since the conflict began, which airlines are passing on to their customers.

Holidaymakers could also be hit with queues of up to four hours at some European airports, because of new border controls introduced by Brussels.

The head of the global energy watchdog sounded the alarm over jet fuel by saying Europe faces possible shortages in six weeks.

The boss of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, warned that flights may ‘soon’ start being cancelled if oil supplies remain patchy. 

Alluding to the Strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world’s oil travels – not yet being completely re-opened, he said: ‘I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be cancelled as a result of lack of jet fuel.’

He added that Europe has ‘maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left’.

After the Continent’s airport trade association initially issued a warning last week that jet fuel shortages would occur in a matter of weeks, European capitals have started preparing for the possible supply problems.

Airports Council International (ACI) Europe said its members had ‘increasing concerns’ about the availability of jet fuel, warning smaller airports are particularly vulnerable.

Additionally, it was revealed that UK officials are preparing for possible shortages in five or six weeks.

Officials believe less than 10 per cent of flights would have to be cancelled if shortages hit, because British suppliers have adjusted well and ‘diversified’ where they buy the fuel from.

They have told airlines they must give passengers at least two weeks’ notice of any cancellations.

However, when the summer holiday high season intensifies, this may still have an impact on thousands of anticipating travellers.

Airlines are cancelling hundreds of flights, not because of any fuel deficiency, but because the general public is not booking getaways out of caution, plus they are refusing to pay grossly inflated ticket prices – the solution, just twist the facts.

However, operating an airline is not as it seems. It’s an extremely costly industry with thin margins, and the slightest disruptions, such as fuel supply, plane issues et cetera can cause airlines to go bust.

Many people work hard all year round and then just want some time away with their families. Nothing extraordinary, just a few days somewhere other than the UK. Some spend a fortune renewing their family passports, and then Donald Trump, the orange Tango man, throws a wobbly.

Everything that you see and hear is a scam, and we are sleepwalking into communism while the populace ignores the lessons of the COVID con.

Just to remind everyone, during COVID we had lockdown restrictions that they imposed but didn’t adhere to themselves – remember that? And this is just another lockdown wearing another outfit – work from home, don’t travel – you waking up yet?

The Buck Stops Here

Keir Starmer is fighting to cling on in No 10 today as he tries to blame the head of the Foreign Office for the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal.

The Cabinet minister insisted Sir Keir had no idea until Tuesday this week that Mandelson failed his security vetting, saying that was ‘beyond unacceptable’ and Sir Olly had left his position because he had ‘lost the confidence’ of the premier. 

But Sir Keir – who is in Paris for a summit on the Middle East crisis later – is facing a rising outcry for his own resignation, with even Labour MPs privately warning he cannot survive. 

Kemi Badenoch said the PM had ‘lied’ and was ‘taking us for fools’. ‘All roads lead to a resignation,’ she said. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said the ‘buck stops’ in Downing Street.

Sir Keir previously stated that Mandelson passed security vetting, and told the Commons that ‘due process’ was followed. He did not mention the bombshell developments at PMQs on Wednesday.

Mr Jones denied that the PM would have to resign for misleading Parliament, and confirmed Sir Keir will be making a statement to MPs on Monday.

As the Mandelson furore comes back to haunt Labour again, questions have been raised over when Sir Olly will get a massive payoff, with Mr Jones acknowledging that vetting processes were followed.

Whitehall departments have been banned from proceeding with appointments against vetting advice, amid suggestions that this has happened in other cases, and Sir Keir has been accused of breaking the ministerial code for not alerting MPs to the vetting issue earlier.

The minister told LBC: ‘Given the nature of the problem here, not just in terms of the appointment, but the position that it has put the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers in as a consequence of the decision to overrule the recommendation of UK Security Vetting, and the fact that the system even allowed for that to happen in the first place, it’s of a scale of a problem that we’ve not experienced in government before.

‘It is beyond unacceptable.’

Questioned on BBC Breakfast whether the PM is going to resign, and whether he has either knowingly or unknowingly deceived MPs, Mr Jones replied ‘no’.

‘The Prime Minister was right… because the security and vetting process had been conducted and the Foreign Office granted what’s called developed vetting status to allow for Peter Mandelson’s appointment, so he had been through the process and he had been cleared by the Foreign Office to start the role, so the Prime Minister was right about that,’ he said.

‘What the Prime Minister was not told until Tuesday evening this week was that the Foreign Office’s decision to give that developed vetting status, and to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador, was against the recommendations of security and vetting officials.’

He told Sky News that even though security officials recommended that Mandelson be refused developed vetting status, he was allowed to see the most sensitive documents.

It doesn’t matter who they are; they all stink of immorality and deception.

There needs to be a General Election, and there needs to be one now! But we all know there won’t be one before 2029 because Labour won’t allow it, and they will alter the rules, violate laws and carry on nonetheless.

Anything that this man does is quite frankly unforgivable and no longer acceptable, and if he wants to leave his integrity intact, he needs to resign now and call a General Election, but the irony of this is that if it were the Conservatives doing this, Starmer and his comrades would be the first to say resign.

Man Stuck In Flat For Weeks Due To Broken Lift

The 28-year-old is one of several disabled residents unable to leave their homes within the block on Wrotham Road in Camden.

Grimshaw, who has lived on the third floor for seven years, said being unable to leave his home was “really affecting my mental health”.

A spokesperson for Camden Council said the lift stopped working on 16 March after a roof leak caused damage to its control system, and apologised to residents. They said the authority hoped to be able to fix the lift “this week”.

Grimshaw said: “It’s been incredibly emotionally debilitating, because they keep telling me one thing and then they say another. It just never comes to a resolution.

“I haven’t really seen many people. I can’t do the things that I would normally do.”

He said some of the things he had missed out on included going to football matches with his father.

Grimshaw said the lift had broken down previously but not for this length of time, and criticised the way the repair had been managed.

“For it to have been out of action for so long is a disgrace,” he said. “I have had to cancel several hospital appointments during this time.

“It just feels like disabled people in general, when it comes to these sorts of situations, they are not really listened to. I just feel like the council don’t really care. It’s not good enough.”

Grimshaw said he was calling on Camden Council for compensation.

“The lift might get fixed in a few days, but the council need to realise the kind of emotional distress, challenges and difficulties this has caused,” he said.

“I think we deserve some sort of recompense for the time we have been stuck in our flats.”

Joshua Reeves, disability rights advocate, said he had issued a formal legal notice to Camden Council on Monday regarding the situation.

Reeves said the situation at Wrotham Road was “a critical failure of both safety and disability rights”, adding: “George is under house arrest without being under arrest. This is just so unfair.”

A spokesperson for Camden Council said that each time they had attempted to repair the lift, they had found “further damage”.

“We apologise to residents that due to the complexity of the repair, this has taken so long,” they said.

“Although we repaired the leak and got the replacement parts we needed, each time we’ve attempted the repair, we’ve found further damage within the lift shaft caused by the water and continued electrical issues,” a Camden spokesperson said.

There have been lift problems everywhere in London, not just here. Over in Hackney, East London, residents have said they are being held hostage because there have been dangerous lift failures in council blocks, and residents have hit out at Hackney Council over continuous lift failures on their housing estates.

People are stuck in broken-down lifts for 90 minutes before the fire brigade comes to release them. It’s a persistent problem, along with other problems. People make complaints, but it just doesn’t get them anywhere because councils are not taking accountability, but it is their duty of care to their tenants to make sure they are safe.

Councils are warned over and over again that the lifts are failing, and for increasingly longer and longer periods, and are in danger of failing completely, but each time they get told that an engineer has been out and either found it to be working, or it has been made safe when it clearly isn’t safe.

Despite gathering proof and uploading photos and videos, residents continue to receive the same response.

Hackney Council residents have reported being trapped in their lifts due to systematic failures, and an entrapment order has been raised with Apex lifts to address the problem, but still, Hackney Council have been warned repeatedly of the dangerous lift failures.

Now, social tenants are too afraid to speak up about the problems out of fear of losing their tenancy, but Hackney Council are now in complete breach of its contractual and legal obligations, and they need to find a permanent solution.

A lot of these flats have two lifts, so when one is not working, the other one is, hopefully. However, a lot of these flats only have one working lift, and when that goes out of service, the residents have to use the stairs, but for those that are disabled or elderly, that is not possible, and they are trapped in their flats, and more often than not, inside the lift until the Fire Brigade come to get them out. This also means that it puts a lot of strain on the second lift due to these circumstances.

Numerous disabled people in wheelchairs who live in flats are totally reliant on the lift to get out of the building, but more often than not, the lift is less than reliable, and many residents are being trapped in their flats, not days, but months, without being able to get out – this is called entrapment, and more alarming are the days when people do go out and return to discover an out of order lift. In these events, people who are disabled or elderly find themselves stuck outside in the cold.

It impacts every day of their lives because they have no idea if the lift will be working when they go out, or if it will still be working when they come back, so there is this constant anxiety that they might be trapped.

Lifts break down all the time, at any time of the day, and if someone is out when it breaks down the council are obliged to send an engineer out to repair it, typically in a 2 hour to 24 hour timeframe, but if a disabled person or elderly person is out at the time, how are they supposed to get back into their home? And even when the engineers do arrive, they might not have the right parts to repair the lift, which means that the person is not able to get back into the flat for weeks or months, and if they are in a wheelchair, what are they supposed to do, fly up the stairs on their magic carpet?

The average age of a lead tenant in the social housing sector is 53, which is 12 years older than the average privately renting tenant. Social housing also has the largest proportion of tenants with long-term illness or disability of any housing sector at 56 per cent, and more than half have mobility problems.

The problem is that, particularly in larger cities, there’s a lot of social housing in blocks of flats, and tenants may have been living there for an extremely long time, but as they have got older, their needs have changed, and living in a flat, especially high-rise flats, is completely inadequate for their requirements.

This indicates that, particularly in a single lift block where lift maintenance appears to have been neglected, a malfunctioning lift turns from a minor annoyance to a serious welfare concern.

Abusing The System

A legal adviser was secretly filmed telling an undercover reporter posing as a migrant to pretend to be gay so he could claim asylum in Britain. 

An investigation uncovered a shady network of asylum experts charging up to £7,000 to coach migrants whose visas are running out on how to pose as gay.

They are supplying clients with cover stories and telling them how to fabricate evidence, including supporting letters, photos from LGBT nightclubs and medical reports.

The migrants then file for asylum because they would face lethal persecution if they returned to Bangladesh or Pakistan, where homosexuality is prohibited.

Overall asylum claims topped 100,000 in 2025, of which 35 per cent were made by people whose student, work or tourist visas had expired – far outstripping small boat arrivals.

According to an inquiry, legal advisors are routinely targeting the system in an effort to charge fees for assisting illegal migrants in remaining in the nation.

Undercover BBC News reporters posed as students facing visa expiry and approached several legal advisors.

At Law & Justice Solicitors in East London, paralegal Mazedul Hasan Shakil passed a reporter’s details to Tanisa Khan, an adviser to Worcester LGBT, which describes itself as a support group for gay and lesbian asylum seekers.

Ms Khan was secretly filmed telling the journalist he needed to ‘claim to be an LGBT person’. When he said ‘but I’m not’, she replied by saying, ‘that’s it, you’re not’. 

She offered a £2,500 package including club photos, tickets, letters claiming sexual relationships and an endorsement from Worcester LGBT.

The adviser bragged of her success rate and suggested the ‘client’s’ imaginary wife could also apply for asylum by claiming to be a lesbian.

At a Worcester LGBT event in Beckton, east London, attended by more than 175 men from across the UK, several people openly confessed to undercover reporters that practically none were gay.

One said: ‘Nobody is gay here. Not even 0.01% are gay.’

The group’s website claims it supports only genuine LGBT asylum seekers and is formally recognised by the Home Office.

At Connaught Law in London, senior adviser Aqeel Abbasi quoted £7,000 for the service and assured the reporter the risk of refusal was ‘very low’. 

He told the reporter to have his photo taken in gay clubs and find someone to pose as a fake male partner. 

Ana Gonzalez, an immigration lawyer with 30 years’ experience, said the likes of Ms Khan were ‘clearly breaking the law’.

It seems that human rights lawyers are the worst, giving perpetrators illegal ideas and raking in millions for legal aid. Starmer himself is a multi-millionaire, and yet nothing will happen to these lawyers, and our government knows what goes on, and so does the average person on the streets. We need to come down extremely hard on those providing this fraudulent service.

Of course, all of this could be stopped – Labour, I’m looking at you! Because this is the oldest trick in the book, and no one is ever questioned by the Home Office.

These HR lawyers and the like are systematically destroying this country because their greed blinkers the damage they are doing, and it’s quite frankly appalling, but they are lucky because they don’t have to live with the consequences, unlike the rest of us. We are not only paying for it, but we are also having to put up with it.

Supposedly, the Home Office lie through their teeth all the time because if they were doing their jobs properly, then we wouldn’t have all these corrupt lawyers, and they wouldn’t be doing such amazing business.

The Life And Times Of Autism

A Dutch boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder, anxiety, mood disorders, depression, and suicidal ideation was euthanised in 2023 because he requested it.

He had been diagnosed 4.5 years earlier and he described his life as ‘joyless’, marked by ‘loneliness’, ‘overstimulation’, ’emotional struggles’ and being mostly ‘homebound.’

Doctors did, however, demonstrate his competence, and the matter was approved by the Regional Euthanasia Review Committee. They detailed their report in 2024, but it has since fueled debate on psychiatric euthanasia for young people.

However, what comes to mind is this: how did it get this bad? Where was the help?

The issue was that his everyday struggles regrettably overwhelmed him, and his thoughts prevented him from finding serenity while he was still living.

Non-neurotypical people need to be educated about autism because they need to understand them.

The majority of people with autism cannot flirt because it’s subtle. It would be like forcing a blind person to see or a deaf person to hear.

They don’t think the same way as we do in the usual way. You need to literally be honest and direct with them. And don’t bother playing mental games with them because you will always lose. Just say things as they are because Autism and vagueness do not mix well; they hate it. If you need them to do a task, explain it in detail, and don’t get angry because they didn’t do something exactly how you wanted them to do it, because if you were being too vague about it, it’s not their fault, it’s yours.

The body language of an Autistic person is often mistaken for that of a psychopath or a creep, but what you may consider creepy behaviour is not at all creepy to them because they don’t think the same way as we do.

They don’t have a lack of empathy; they just have trouble expressing it, and they don’t want to pretend that they are feeling emotion when they’re not. Just because they’re not bursting into tears over something doesn’t mean they’re not upset, and just because they’re not making eye contact doesn’t mean they’re not interested.

Eye contact makes them feel very uncomfortable, especially for long periods of time. Just learn to accept that they won’t make eye contact with you most of the time.

If you wonder why people on the Autistic Spectrum tend to be introverted, it’s because they suffer from sensory overloads. This is why going outside can be a massive challenge for them, and a number of them wear headphones to drown out the background noise so that they can cope a little better. It doesn’t cost any money to understand them, just some of your time.

An Autistic person deciding to euthanise themselves is a very big thing, and unless you have this condition, you have no idea what they are suffering, but of course, mental illness is not treated on an equal footing.

This person felt that he was already dead, so he believed that euthanising himself would be the better option because there was no more consciousness left to regret, and it was a win-win situation regardless of anyone’s viewpoint.

There should have been people to help him, but even so, it would have been a very hard road, even if he’d had the help and medications. There has to be motivation, so I can understand his choice, and I’m grateful that he was allowed to make that choice.

A Race For A Seat Is On

Shahid Butt is a convicted terrorist who is running for a seat on the Birmingham Council, and he said, “These islamophobes and these racists are hoping and praying that I don’t win.”

In 1999, he was found guilty in Yemen of participating in an armed terror conspiracy that included organising bombings of a Swiss-owned hotel, an Anglican church, and the British consulate in Aden. In order to serve his community and solve socioeconomic issues in Sparkhill, one of Birmingham’s most diverse and economically challenged communities, he has rejected the conviction and is currently running under the Independent Candidates Alliance banner.

Butt’s prior conviction for extremism has drawn criticism for casting a shadow over his candidature for public office and potentially escalating tensions, especially at a time when security and community harmony are of utmost importance.

However, I won’t be poking the lion because I think the lion is beginning to wake up, so I’ll be sleeping with one eye open from now on, because if this man gets in, we are not safe. We were not safe to start with, but if he prevails, we will not be safe at all.

We must defang the lion because if we don’t, there will be uprisings on both sides. Keir Starmer doesn’t seem to care, and because this is now Nazi Britain, if you are British, Starmer will destroy you. London, Birmingham and such like, can you hear the raw? It’s like a zombie apocalypse – I’ll get the BBQ out and get the bacon on the go, along with some stakes!

Now, please don’t get me wrong, not every Muslim is an extremist, far from it. I know some really lovely people who are Muslim. A Muslim is a Muslim, an extremist is just that, an extremist that happens to be a Muslim. I have no problem with your faith, your colour, but what I do draw the line at is when somebody becomes an extremist, and wants to blow everyone up that they don’t agree with. If they want to blow themselves up with a bomb, go do it somewhere where nobody lives, and let’s be very clear about this. It is against the Quran to commit suicide, and the Quran explicitly prohibits one from taking one’s own life.

This man shouldn’t even be running for a seat, and I’m not even sure if there is such a term as ‘Islamophobia.’ It just seems like a word that has been made up so that our government can mute those who speak out about injustices and crimes carried out by individual groups who refuse to follow British law.

It’s not about colour, religion, or ideology. It’s about those who come to our country and don’t follow our laws. If they come, then they need to assimilate into our society, not the other way round.

The only thing that Shahid Butt is fit for is running a corner shop, and for the good of the British people, let’s pray that this dunderhead doesn’t get what he wants because this man should never be allowed near any position of power, but then this is what our country has become. The Cancer seethes, and it’s more advanced than we thought.

We now have terrorists, rapists and grooming gangs in the UK, but white British people are being called racist, and we are being called far-right. We are not far-right, we are just right.

Our British Culture Needs To Be Saved

Keir Starmer apparently said: “Muslim people make a difference, they help government, they grow economy, they help young people with education, they do charity, and they are generous. They have made, are making, and will continue to make an enormous contribution to British culture.”

He spouted this nonsense while standing on his podium – he is totally insane, a turncoat to his country and to society, but that’s just my opinion. What’s yours?

He’s not going to get any Oscars for this one.

I have plenty of views on this topic, but I will keep them to myself as I wouldn’t want any repercussions, and you can guarantee there would be. However, if anyone is brave enough to express themselves, then be my guest.

Of course, Keir Starmer doesn’t write his own addresses – perhaps the King does it for him! They all seem to like the sound of their own voice.

Only an incredible 19.8 per cent of Muslims aged 16 to 74 in the UK are in full-time employment, according to a study carried out by the Social Mobility Commission. Now put that into perspective: in London alone, there were 1,318,755 Muslims reported in the 2021 census in the Greater London area. Not many of them are putting back into the economy, then, is there? He must think that the British people are absolute fools.

And as for helping young people. They definitely do that, especially the very young and vulnerable girls, and what’s more, they believe that it’s their God-given right to do so, but there is nothing in the Quran that cites the killing of other people. It mentions peace, though. These Muslims who come to our country don’t appear very peaceful. Perhaps they just make it up as they go along.

Is Starmer even living on the same planet as us? – Meanwhile, back in the real world, King Charles appears to definitely agree with him, and he’s not a very good King at that.

How many votes did Starmer receive from the speech, I wonder? Or are they holding him hostage, and it’s just AI that we are actually seeing? They forgot to mention one important thing – they want to take over our country.

During An Organ Donation, A 36-Year-Old Man Wakes Up

Tragic new information about a case that stunned America has been disclosed by the family of a man who woke up as doctors were getting ready to remove his organs.

In 2021, Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II, now 36, was declared brain dead after an overdose sent him to Baptist Health hospital in Richmond, Kentucky. 

Donna Rohrer, his sister and primary caregiver, has now revealed he began taking drugs because of anxiety, depression and PTSD that had developed in response to seeing dead bodies in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

Hoover had also lost two brothers previously to an overdose, and struggled to maintain employment and find a sense of purpose. Just months before he wound up in the hospital, his mother passed away. 

On his late mother’s birthday, Hoover took unspecified drugs and passed out while loading his car. When EMTs arrived to care for him, he had no pulse. 

Days later, after doctors found no signs of brain activity, Hoover’s family decided to remove his life support and allow his organs to be harvested for donation, per his wishes.

But as he was wheeled into the operating room, Hoover woke up, and since then, his story has spread across the country and appears to have led to a wave of people withdrawing their names from organ donor databases.

Over one week after reports about Hoover’s story went live, around 170 people pulled themselves from organ donor registries per day. 

That is 10 times higher than the number of people who removed themselves over the same period in 2023.

Representatives from Gift of Life Michigan, a state-specific organ donation network, told the Associated Press that some of the people who removed their names mentioned Mr Hoover’s case specifically. 

This adds more pressure to what is already a stressed system, where an estimated 17 people in the US die each day waiting for an organ transplant. 

Since 2021, Rhorer and whistleblowers from the hospital have lifted the lid on what happened that day.

They claim doctors told family members that scans showed no activity in Hoover’s brain, and asked if they wanted to fulfil his wishes of becoming an organ donor.

The family agreed to take him off life support and send him for organ donation. From there, officials from Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) stepped in to coordinate the transplant. 

Natasha Miller, who was working for KODA at the time and in the room during Hoover’s almost-surgery, told CNN that shortly after being wheeled into the transplant room, Hoover began thrashing around, even as his body was shaved and he was draped with a surgical sheet.

She said she saw tears rolling down his face, and in a shock new report, said she saw him shake his head no.

Miller said: ‘No one was comfortable doing the case from the hospital.’

Then, Miller said coordinators called managers at KODA to tell them the case needed to be shut down.

Miller alleged that higher-ups from the organisation pressured in-person staff at Baptist Health to proceed with the surgery, according to CNN’s reporting.

Rhorer and the rest of Hoover’s family didn’t know about what occurred in the operating room until Nycki Martin, a surgical preservationist for KODA at the time, reached out after seeing Rhorer’s post about the ‘miracle’ on TikTok. 

According to CNN, Martin shared details with Rhorer about what happened on the operating table, and the doubt that medical staff had allegedly expressed when preparing Hoover for surgery. 

Rhorer said if she and her family had known there were doubts about his consciousness, ‘we would never have sent him for his organs to be harvested’.  

In response to comments from Martin, Miller and Rhorer, representatives from Network for Hope, the organisation that has absorbed KODA since the 2021 incident, denied the incident. 

Their president and Chief Operating Officer, Julie Bergen, told NPR: ‘No one at KODA has ever been pressured to collect organs from any living patient.

‘KODA does not recover organs from living patients. KODA has never pressured its team members to do so.’ 

The hospital, Baptist Health Richmond, has also insisted ‘the safety of our patients is always our highest priority.

‘We work closely with our patients and their families to ensure our patients’ wishes for organ donation are followed,’ a spokesperson for the hospital told NPR.

The national organisation that oversees transplants, the Health Resources and Services Administration, is reviewing the allegations against KODA and the hospital.

Denying it will just mean more people will withdraw as potential donors, and covering it up makes it much worse and sends a message that they can’t be trusted. They obviously viewed this man as disposable and saw him in terms of profit for dollars, and it isn’t just in Kentucky that we should be worried about; it’s anywhere in the world.

This man wasn’t dead because if he had been, they wouldn’t have been able to harvest his organs, so he would have still been able to feel pain, which seems to me that there is a strong incentive to harvest these body parts even when people are still alive.

It raises the question of how many patients are being used as test subjects while on ventilators, and I am highly surprised that any doctor would harvest any organ from a drug addict – something doesn’t add up.

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