The Surgery Mix-Up That Shouldn't Have Happened | The Tragic Case of Jesica Santillan

After travelling a far journey from Mexico to the States, 17 year old Jesica Santillan was ready to undergo surgery that would change her life for the better. She needed a heart and a double lung transplant and after hard work, Jesica and her family were finally able to afford the $500,000 surgery. But what they thought would be an improvement in her health soon turned into a botched procedure nobody was expecting. Jesica was given the wrong organs and this medical error would put her through weeks of suffering before passing away. And it was after this tragedy occurred when many discussions on issues surrounding organ donation would open up.

I’m Petal Palmer and I bring you stories of medical cases and mysteries from around the world.

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
03:35 - Diagnosis
05:20 - Migration to States
07:49 - Mack Mahoney
09:59 - Jesica’s Hope Chest
11:35 - Organ transplants in US
14:29 - UNOS organ matching
15:48 - Jesica gets organ
19:03 - What went wrong/blood type
22:31 - Second transplant surgery
24:53 - Aftermath of case
31:39 - Media / Critics
34:26 - Facts of organ donation
37:25 - Jesica’s health insurance
38:38 - Post-life after case
39:00 - Mack controversy
48:16 - Duke and UNOS corrections

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional and nothing in this video is meant to be taken as medical advice. If you’re experiencing any health issues, speak with your physician.

#truecrime #medicalmalpractice #medicalerror

[cicada]

Jessica was a child. I don't care what country she was from. Legal or illegal does not change the fact that there were serious consequences to the neglect of the hospital.

[candberrykorn]

absolutely disgusting that her surgery cost $500, 000. I'm appalled. genuinely. we live in a society fr

[ksis]

As a mom, if i believed my only option to save my kid was to go outside of the US for better treatment i would do it in a heartbeat. The people criticizing a sick child and her family just because they are immigrants is so frustrating. People are so hateful.

[ProbablyBees]

honestly how dare people accuse a dead child of stealing organs to try to live.

[snowpawzvideos]

The fact Mack’s own son died from a medical mishap, then for it to basically happen again is just… there are no words

[bxx]

Blood type should be the first and the easiest thing for them to check. I cannot imagine the heartbreak her family felt after going through so much just for her to lose her life because of the mistake of the people they thought would be their saviour.

Also, those "more deserving" americans better criticise their precious doctors. If they hadn't made that small but fatal mistake, she wouldn't need a second transplant 😤

[shannsimms]

“Help me Mack I’m dying” is the saddest thing ever

[debrakleid]

To those criticizing the family because the organs should have gone to another American I’m willing to bet if it was their child and they needed to go to another country to have life saving surgery then they would do it including if it was a transplant. Leave this girl and her family alone.

[notadvertiserfriendly]

the people mad at Jésica for “stealing” should be mad at the members of the medical team who negligently wasted that first set of Type A organs on someone who couldn’t use them.

Ofc, this is on top of the more important issue of people overemphasizing Jésica’s citizenship when she is a human being who is _dying._

[erica]

Why is it okay for Americans to go to other countries to get cheaper medical treatment/supplies but others can’t come to America to medical care???

[paulas]

As a nurse who has given blood transfusions many times, this simple error in blood typing amazes me! The hoops you have to jump through to get the blood into the patient are numerous with several people checking and double checking that unit of blood before you give it to your patient. It was beaten into us at University long before we graduated, to the point where before my first time transfusing a unit of blood I was scared to death. To think these people didn’t check blood type before the transplant at one of the best hospitals in the country is beyond belief! This poor family. That poor little girl. She did not die an easy death either. Just tragic.

[SVYZ]

Thank you for not skipping over the medical terms but explaining them instead, it's good to have all the details
May Jessica rest in peace

[savrw]

Being O- is kind of scary. You’re a universal donor but you can only receive O-. PLEASE donate blood!

[emmett]

I realize that she was almost certainly braindead at that point, but I think it’s disgusting that Duke was allowed to basically tell the family, “Actually no, you can’t get a second opinion about whether or not it’s truly hopeless for Jesica. We are taking her off life support and letting her die and you can’t stop us. Also… can we harvest her functioning organs?”
Like, after the first botched transplant, how could her parents possibly trust what anybody in that hospital was saying??? They should have been allowed to transport her somewhere else, if only for peace of mind. Now there will always be at least a tiny sliver of doubt lingering in their minds.

[memejuce]

i can’t imagine thinking just because someone happened to be born somewhere else, they don’t deserve the same treatment

[ChooaBunny]

It frustrates me so much that the hospital wasn't sued. They killed a little girl and harmed at least 2 other people. They robbed her of the chance to get the right organs and live a long and happy life, destroyed perfectly healthy organs that could have saved someone else and their mistake caused other healthy organs which could save yet another person to be removed from the system. This is fucked up.
Everyone makes mistakes and we should forgive them, but this was so easily preventable and had massive consequences. Hospitals only care about money, that's the way to make sure they don't mess up again.

[ucdmbmu]

You should do a video on the death of Michael columbini. He was a little boy getting an mri done when a nurse walked in the room with a metal gas canister. The strong magnetic pull of the machine torpedoed the canister right towards the boys head and he died a day later. And his poor father watched it all happen, completely helpless. This story has been stuck in my head for 10+ years

[Crystal]

I’m the universal blood type O- and this has made me remember I NEED TO START DONATING MY BLOOD!!! I will as soon as I can. It’s so good to help others.

[Dia_hom]

Jessica is exactly 14 days younger than my own daughter. Thank you for telling her story in a respectful way, as you always do. Love from Ireland

[kirstenornelas]

It is sickening that people blame an innocent family because doctors made such a blatant failure in care and neither this young girl nor her family were responsible for the failures of more than a few physicians. It disgusts me that people would say any of those things. No matter what you feel about immigration, nobody should die because they cannot receive proper care. Does not matter if they are citizens or non citizens of any specific country.Just vile and heartless to go after a family who suffered so much. Just awful! She deserved those organs just as much as anyone else. I don’t care where you come from, if you are reaching out for medical care, if you cannot receive that care where you live, then absolutely you should be able to travel to a country where you can receive that treatment. Such a sad case.