David Bridges
A Wilkes County pastor emulated the story of his religion this week when his death certificate was supposedly redacted three days after he was declared dead. “I just wanted to give a quick unexpected update here,” Megan Marlow began on a Facebook live, Wednesday evening. Saturday, Marlow met with a doctor about her husband’s health. After an exam, the doctor announced that her husband — Grace Baptist Church Pastor Ryan Marlow — was clinically deceased, according to Marlow’s account of the event.The time of death was written down, she said. Plans to match his organs to donor recipients began, she said.Church members wrote obituary-esque letters.Meanwhile, Marlow said, her husband remained on life support for the sake of his organ donations.Sunday and Monday, Marlow mourned her husband at home, reading over stories people had sent her about the impact he’d had on their lives. Monday night, the doctor called Marlow again to inform her that there was something peculiar about this case, according to her Facebook live; he was calling in an expert panel to review it.”They said my husband did not in fact suffer neurological death, but that, he was not brain dead,” Marlow said.Instead, the doctors decided that Pastor Marlow had suffered traumatic brain damage which would alter the technical time of death from Saturday to Tuesday, Marlow said.”But I said, ‘he’s still pretty much brain dead right?’ and I was told yes,” Marlow said. Tuesday morning, her tears and family’s sadness continued as they drove to the hospital for final goodbyes. Tuesday was supposed to be his honor walk, where the health care workers would line the hospital as his body would be taken to the OR.However, when the family arrived, Marlow’s niece had a strange story to share. She said she had been showing Pastor Marlow videos of the family, and that his feet were moving. “I can’t make this up, I cannot make this up. I’m crying, I don’t want to have false hope. This can happen — when people are brain dead, they can have the spinal reflexes where you’re brain dead but still have reflexes,” Marlow said. She went to her husband’s room and told him everything she ever wanted to tell him. She told him she loved him. She told him was a good husband. She told him her babies would be taken care of. And then she told him to fight. “I went into the hallway […] literally the OR team was ready to take him, and I tell the nurse ‘I need tests done now to see if he’s brain dead.’ […] Long story short; he’s not brain dead, my friends,” Marlow said. There was blood flowing to Marlow’s brain, after all, according to his wife. Her video claims the doctors determined that Pastor Marlow is in a deep coma, at this time. – That he is not awake, but he will now be accepted as a patient at Duke University Hospital in Durham. “My family was just completely dumbfounded,” Marlow said. She asks people to pray that DUH is able to take her husband in soon, even though they are short on beds. In the meantime, the family has been playing music for the pastor, hoping to inspire more brain activity. “He may still go to glory yet,” Marlow said, but she believes there is a reason he is not gone yet.
A Wilkes County pastor emulated the story of his religion this week when his death certificate was supposedly redacted three days after he was declared dead.
“I just wanted to give a quick unexpected update here,” Megan Marlow began on a Facebook live, Wednesday evening.
Saturday, Marlow met with a doctor about her husband’s health. After an exam, the doctor announced that her husband — Grace Baptist Church Pastor Ryan Marlow — was clinically deceased, according to Marlow’s account of the event.
The time of death was written down, she said.
Plans to match his organs to donor recipients began, she said.
Church members wrote obituary-esque letters.
Meanwhile, Marlow said, her husband remained on life support for the sake of his organ donations.
Sunday and Monday, Marlow mourned her husband at home, reading over stories people had sent her about the impact he’d had on their lives.
Monday night, the doctor called Marlow again to inform her that there was something peculiar about this case, according to her Facebook live; he was calling in an expert panel to review it.
“They said my husband did not in fact suffer neurological death, but that, he was not brain dead,” Marlow said.
Instead, the doctors decided that Pastor Marlow had suffered traumatic brain damage which would alter the technical time of death from Saturday to Tuesday, Marlow said.
“But I said, ‘he’s still pretty much brain dead right?’ and I was told yes,” Marlow said.
Tuesday morning, her tears and family’s sadness continued as they drove to the hospital for final goodbyes. Tuesday was supposed to be his honor walk, where the health care workers would line the hospital as his body would be taken to the OR.
However, when the family arrived, Marlow’s niece had a strange story to share. She said she had been showing Pastor Marlow videos of the family, and that his feet were moving.
“I can’t make this up, I cannot make this up. I’m crying, I don’t want to have false hope. This can happen — when people are brain dead, they can have the spinal reflexes where you’re brain dead but still have reflexes,” Marlow said.
She went to her husband’s room and told him everything she ever wanted to tell him. She told him she loved him. She told him was a good husband. She told him her babies would be taken care of. And then she told him to fight.
“I went into the hallway […] literally the OR team was ready to take him, and I tell the nurse ‘I need tests done now to see if he’s brain dead.’ […] Long story short; he’s not brain dead, my friends,” Marlow said.
There was blood flowing to Marlow’s brain, after all, according to his wife.
Her video claims the doctors determined that Pastor Marlow is in a deep coma, at this time. – That he is not awake, but he will now be accepted as a patient at Duke University Hospital in Durham.
“My family was just completely dumbfounded,” Marlow said.
She asks people to pray that DUH is able to take her husband in soon, even though they are short on beds. In the meantime, the family has been playing music for the pastor, hoping to inspire more brain activity.
“He may still go to glory yet,” Marlow said, but she believes there is a reason he is not gone yet.
Maya Kensington
Troy Sanders
