Jahi McMath: Terri Schiavo group secretly leading transfer efforts

The last hope for Jahi McMath to be kept on a ventilator may come from a former Long Island hairdresser who runs a brain-injury treatment center dedicated to Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman whose case sparked a fierce nationwide end-of-life debate.

On Tuesday, the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network said publicly for the first time that it has been helping Jahi's family for weeks to find a place to transfer the 13-year-old Oakland girl declared brain-dead by doctors. The network has worked "in relative silence for the sake of the sensitivity of her case."

"Jahi McMath has been labeled a 'deceased' person. Yet she retains all the functional attributes of a living person, despite her brain injury," the organization said. "This includes a beating heart, circulation and respiration, the ability to metabolize nutrition and more. Jahi is a living human being."

Nailah Winkfield, center, mother of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, greets well-wishers outside Children's Hospital Oakland, Monday, Dec. 30, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group)

New Beginnings founder and owner Allyson Scerri shared a statement on her Facebook page Tuesday explaining how her Medford, N.Y.-based facility "is about preserving life and treating brain-injured patients with care and dignity."

"We do encourage every citizen to take the time to educate themselves more clearly on the issues of what brain death is and what it is not," the New Beginnings statement read. "This child has been defined as a deceased person, yet she has all the functional attributes of a living person despite her brain injury."

Jahi's attorney identified the facility in court documents Monday, when a judge extended a restraining order to Jan. 7, at least temporarily preventing Children's Hospital Oakland from removing the girl from a ventilator. Jahi came to the hospital Dec. 9 for tonsil surgery and two other procedures to remove throat and nasal tissue, all to treat her sleep apnea. But complications led to six doctors declaring her brain-dead. The hospital has said it will not treat a "dead" body, and has asked for the life support to be removed.

The hospital has said it would transfer Jahi if her family and attorney meet certain provisions.

While Scerri has not returned multiple calls for comment, it's clear from court documents and social media comments she is interested in bringing Jahi to her facility.

On Dec. 27, Scerri posted "LETS SAVE JAHI" on her Facebook page and shared a link to a Jahi page. Two days later, she posted: "We can not let this 13 year old girl die........New Beginnings will take her under our WINGS." The facility even created a YouTube video and message to Jahi and her family.

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Jahi McMath: Terri Schiavo group secretly leading transfer efforts