Brain-Dead Girl's Family Has Alternate to Unplugging Her

After a second, independent doctor testified that Jahi McMath is indeed brain-dead, a judge on Tuesday ruled that the California 13-year-old be taken off life support; the family has until 5pm Monday to appeal. No word yet on if they'll do so, but as the San Francisco Chronicle reports, the family may be eying a different route. They're thinking of sidestepping the ruling by moving her to a new facility, and the family's attorney yesterday confirmed that they have already been offered help on that front by "people who are firmly committed to the concept of life."

The offers apparently include assistance in both relocating Jahi and footing the bill for her care. The family continues to insist that she will recover, and tried to have "as normal [a Christmas] as possible" with her yesterday, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Some 15 family members spent the holiday in the waiting room together at Children's Hospital Oakland, where they had a tree, gifts, and played board games and cards, as is their tradition. Click for more on Jahi's situation. (More Jahi McMath stories.)