An organ donor allegedly declared dead after a drug overdose woke up on the operating table minutes before medical staff were to remove his heart.

According to NPR and the New York Post, Kentucky man Thomas TJ Hoover was rushed to hospital in October 2021 and declared dead.

However, when nurses wheeled the 36-year-old into the room, Natasha Miller, whose job was to preserve donated organs, said something didn’t seem right and believed the patient was very much alive.

“He was moving around, kind of thrashing; like, moving, thrashing around on the bed,” Miller told NPR.

“You could see he had tears coming down. He was crying visibly.”

According to NPR, two doctors and a surgeon refused to participate in the organ transplant procedure following the alleged incident, claiming one said they didn’t want “anything to do with it”.

She described the incident as “chaotic” and “upsetting”.

TJ Hoover, right, with his sister Donna Rhorer.

The organ retrieval was then cancelled.

Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (Koda) officials denied any member of their organisation instructed doctors to proceed with an organ harvesting operation on a living patient.

However, Nyckoletta Martin, a Koda worker, backed up Miller’s claims, saying she was shocked when reviewing Hoover’s case that he had shown signs of life while doctors examined his heart to see if they could then proceed with a heart transplant.

Hoover’s sister Donna Rhorer told NPR her brother opened his eyes while being wheeled from intensive care to an operating room but was told the movement was reflective and wasn’t a sign he was alive.

Martin claimed when the patient woke up medical staff sedated him and proceeded with plans to remove his organs.

She claimed that Koda officials downplayed the incident, which left her “horrified”.

TJ Hoover, left, was declared dead and on the brink of having his organs removed to be transplanted into other people.

“That’s everybody’s worst nightmare, right? Being alive during surgery and knowing that someone is going to cut you open and take your body parts out?”

Several staff have quit following the incident.

Hoover survived and is now living with his sister. He is having some issues with memory, walking and talking.

Koda confirmed to NPR Miller was assigned to the case but stressed the “case has not being accurately represented”.

Koda claimed staff had never “ever been pressured to collect organs from any living patients” and that they do not recover organs from living patients.

The Kentucky state attorney general’s office said in a statement to NPR investigators are “reviewing” the allegations.