Date: February 19th, 2024
Family of Jaszmin Phillips - Muskegon, MI - With heavy hearts and deep sadness, we, the family of Jaszmine Philips, urgently share the devastating events surrounding her passing at Trinity Health Muskegon.
On February 14th, around 4 am, our beloved Jaszmine, a devoted African American mother of two, urgently sought medical help at Trinity Health Muskegon due to a severe headache. Jaszmine, who bravely battled Type 1 diabetes, faced added risks due to her condition, making her situation even harder. She to the medical staff that she has Type I diabetes and could be in diabetic keto acidosis.
In the middle of her worry, Jaszmine's worst fears came true as she reluctantly handed over her ID, which showed she was an organ donor, to the receptionist. Hearing unsettling rumors of organ harvesting in the ER only made her anxiety worse, casting a dark shadow over her already tough situation.
During the tough 16 hours spent in the Emergency Room, Jaszmine endured unbearable pain, with only a small dose of Tylenol to help her cope. Tragically, during this time, Jaszmine suffered from traumatic brain trauma caused by fluid buildup, resulting in a devastating diagnosis of severe cerebral edema. The damage to her brainstem was so severe that it extended into her neck.
As time passed, representatives from the Gift of Life organization arrived on February 16th at 7am, making things even more complicated as Jaszmine was not declared dead. Despite Jaszmine's brave fight, on February 16, 2024 at 3:37pm, she was deemed legally dead leaving us, her children, her family, shattered and consumed by grief.
In heartfelt talks with Carrie Navarre of Trinity Health Muskegon, we strongly expressed our opposition to organ donation, echoing Jaszmine's wishes. Carrie, understanding our concerns, spoke to the head legal counsel of Trinity Health, and assured us that our wishes would be respected, and Jaszmine's body would stay with us until probate court proceedings began.
In a worrying turn of events, Carrie, along with colleague Linda Dunmore, gave us a stark ultimatum at 7:30 pm: unless we got an injunction by 12pm on Saturday, Jaszmine's body would be released to the Gift of Life, she would be transported to Ann Arbor and her organs would be harvested. Our family, including Jaszmine’s mother, father, aunts, and others had an immediate meeting with Linda Dunmore and Carrie Navarre, who had Tyler Garrett, RN assist us in completing the form to release Jaszmine to Fountain Funeral Home on Saturday at 8 am.
However, our heartache grew when Gift of Life representatives arrived at the hospital, walking around Jaszmine’s room for the entire night without explanation as we were assured Jaszmine would be transported to Fountain Funeral Home and the Gift of Life was no longer an issue for us. Yet, our struggle continued as we prepared to have the family join with Jaszmine on Saturday, at 7am as agreed to by Linda Dunmore and Carrie Navarre, only to be met by no less than 30 security guards and policemen telling us that if we touched the corpse we would be charged with murder. This was a complete surprise and utter atrocity to us.
With heavy hearts, we pulled together, securing legal counsel by Michael Oakes, Esq, who was able to get an injunction signed by a judge on Saturday, February 17th, protecting Jaszmine from Trinity Health and The Gift of Life.
We then spent the rest of the day and the following day, Sunday, with Jaszmine, trying to block out the assault on our family while in her room. We could have some rest as we awaited the court hearing on February 20th.
On Monday, February 19th, as we have done since Jaszmine’s admission, we went to visit her only to find that the 5th floor, Jaszmine’s floor, was on lockdown, adding to our pain as we have had no time to grieve.
This turns out to be Jaszmine’s worst nightmare, to be admitted to the hospital, left untreated, and left to die only for her organs to be taken.
As we get ready for the tough journey ahead, we humbly ask for the support and prayers of our community during this dark time. Tomorrow, at 11 am in Judge Pittman’s courthouse, we'll seek solace and closure amidst the chaos.
For media questions and updates, please reach out to Kameka Johnson at 231-343-4616 or Duane Johnson at 469-570-4461.
Our hearts ache with the loss of our dear Jaszmine, a light gone too soon.
With deepest sorrow,
The Family of Jaszmine Philips
