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Brain dead Korean woman still alive
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-25 09:51

A brain-dead 76-year-old patient remained alive Wednesday, the day after her life support system was turned off when a court approved South Korea's first "death with dignity" request, a hospital said.

The woman, identified only by her surname Kim, continued breathing on her own for a second day after being separated from machines, Severance Hospital said.

Three months after she was declared legally "brain dead," her children filed a court petition after the hospital rejected their request to remove the life support system so that she could die in peace.

Her children claimed that extending life using medical devices would prolong her "painful and meaningless" existence.

A district court in December approved the request.