This question was originally posted on Qoura.com and was answered by Will Warnuu. One evening a young man in his 20′s was brought into the E.R. He had sustained a head injury in an accident. It turned out that he was brain dead, and was only alive due to the aid of machines. He had a very large family, who all showed up. It was a huge family. And, it seemed that they were a relatively poor family. I would also hazard a guess that they were not highly educated, either formally or informally. When confronted with the news, his family was understandably distraught. In their grief, they lashed out at the doctor, saying that all hope wasn’t lost, and their son could be saved. One of the family members put forth the idea that if they had money and good insurance, things would be different, and the young man would be saved. Hospital staff tried to reason with them, telling them that his brain was damaged beyond repair, and nothing could be done. But the family wouldn’t hear it, and kept insisting that if they had money things would be different. One hospital staff pointed out that nothing could be done, even with all the money in the world. To which, the brother of the young man responded, “You could do a brain transplant.” (I kid you not.) The parents immediately grasped at this, and a rally cry went up among the family. “Brain transplant! You could do a brain transplant! If we were rich, you would do it!” No matter what was said, the family would not be consoled, and was convinced that the hospital was holding out providing a brain transplant for their son because they were poor. The ER staff left the family to themselves and discussed the matter.There was no comforting this family. No reasoning. It was suggested that Doctor H. agree to do a brain transplant, and that the doctor explain to the family that for a brain transplant to succeed, there had to be a 100 percent match with the donor brain. And the only way there would be a 100 percent match is if the donor brain was the brain of an immediate family member. Either a Father, Mother, Brother or Sister. Doctor H. said that it was a risky move, but he agreed to it. Doctor H. presented his case to the family. Family members were nodding their heads around the room, commenting under their breath, “I told you so.” There was a moment of silence, and then the dad asked, “Doc, what’s gonna’ happen to the person who gives their brain? What will they do? How will it affect their life?” (Again, I’m not making up this stuff.) Doctor H. looked at them for awhile. How he kept his composure, I don’t know. Finally, he said, “Well, sir, they will die. People can’t live without a brain.” This hit the Dad hard. “Doc,” he said, “Can you give us a moment to discuss this? In private?” Doctor H. told them to take the time that they needed and he would be back in a half hour. Before the half hour was up, the Dad sought out Doctor H. and told him that after much discussion, the family had decided that they sure were gonna’ miss their son. There would be no brain transplant. And then, the family settled into grieving the loss of their son. Source
