Jahi McMath's family is running out of time.
A ruling made last week by an Alameda County (Calif.) judge allows an Oakland hospital to remove the 13-year-old girl from life support at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time Monday unless her relatives file an appeal.
On Sunday, the family was pinning its hopes on a New York facility to care for Jahi after two California care homes withdrew offers to accept her. The family's attorney, Chris Dolan, did not name the New York hospital, claiming that the resulting media attention could hurt Jahi's chances of being transferred there.
Jahi underwent a tonsillectomy at Children's Hospital Oakland on December 9 to treat sleep apnea. After she awoke from the operation, her family said, she started bleeding heavily and went into cardiac arrest.
Doctors at Children's Hospital and an independent pediatric neurologist from Stanford University have concluded the girl is brain dead.
The hospital wants to remove her from life support, but the family said they believe she is still alive. Jahi McMath is currently being kept alive by a ventilator and a feeding tube.
"The family is together, and today everybody is praying and being together," Dolan told the Associated Press Sunday. He said no decisions had been made about legal options for Monday, and would not comment on progress with the New York facility.
On Sunday, the hospital said it had not heard from the New York, or any other, facility about a transfer.
"We need to be able to talk to the other facility to understand what it is they are capable of doing," Cynthia Chiarappa, a hospital spokeswoman, said. "This is not transferring an individual in a vegetative state, but a dead body."
The hospital also said it would need to confirm there is "lawful transportation" included in any plan to transfer Jahi, and written permission from the coroner.
Dolan said previously that the family views the New York site as it's "last, last hope." He has also has said it was possible the family could ask Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo for more time, or file a federal appeal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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