Family fights to keep 16-year-old on life support after doctors declare him brain dead

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) — For the second time in a month, a metro Detroit family is fighting to keep their child alive despite doctors' diagnoses of no brain activity.

16-year-old Titus Cromer Jr. has been in a coma at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak for several days, according to the family's attorney Jim Rasor with the Rasor Law Firm in Royal Oak.

The family is not disclosing how Titus ended up in the hospital, but their attorney said the teenager was otherwise healthy prior to his arrival there.

According to court paperwork, doctors indicate Cromer Jr. is brain dead and are planning to "withdraw Titus's life-sustaining medical treatment, which includes ventilation and artificial hydration and nutrition on Monday, Oct. 28, 2019 at noon."

“This is the family’s decision to make," Rasor told 7 Action News.

He's filed an emergency motion in Oakland County to delay the removal of life support, so that the family can search for a second medical option and long-term care facilities to move Titus.

"The healthcare provider thinks that they have the ability, instead of the family to make this crucial decision," he said.

A spokesperson for Beaumont Health issued the following statement to 7 Action News in response to this story:

This family's fight comes 11 days after 14-year-old Bobby Reyes died at U of M's Mott Children's Hospital. The Reyes family also fought against physicians' diagnoses and argued Bobby was showing signs of brain activity. Ultimately, a Washtenaw Circuit Court judge lifted a temporary stay on the decision to remove Bobby's care, stating he didn't have jurisdiction over the case because it had to be filed in a state court.

“There are some cases where people who are judged to be brain dead spontaneously awaken. And although that might be a remote chance in this case, it’s a chance," Rasor said.