FRANKLIN TWP. -- A California girl being cared for in New Jersey after being declared brain dead more than two years ago is "as healthy and beautiful as ever, proving the naysayers wrong," her family said last week in a Facebook post. 
 
 The post, which included a picture of 15-year-old Jahi McMath and her mother, Nailah Winkfield, was published on March 15 on the "Keep Jahi McMath on life support" Facebook page. 
 
 "Jahi as healthy and beautiful as ever, proving the naysayers wrong," the post reads. "A fighter, A warrior, A blessed child, Gods got your back little girl, keep fighting. Your testimony will be a great one. 
 
 "Prayers going up from many, all the prayers, good wishes combined with your mothers love for you which is pure and soothing will definitely keep you going. Stay blessed everyone and thank you for your prayers and love." 
 
 After entering UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland in December 2013 for a routine tonsillectomy to correct her sleep apnea, McMath went into cardiac arrest and sustained massive, irreversible brain injuries. 
 
 Doctors later declared her brain dead and sought to turn off her life-support, but McMath's family ultimately obtained a restraining order preventing the hospital from terminating her life support. 
 
 Her family transported McMath in 2014 to New Jersey, because the state has a religious exemption for those who object to terminating medical support based on a brain death diagnosis. The family has been living in Franklin Township, Somerset County. 
 
 McMath's family is suing the hospital over the allegedly botched surgery and accusing officials of pressuring them to donate Jahi's organs. Winkfield, her mother, also has filed a federal lawsuit to get her daughter's death certificate declared void. 
 
 Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. ||||| OAKLAND, CA (FOX NEWS) - In her first public update in over three months, Jahi’s mother, Nailah Winkfield, released a photo on Facebook informing her followers of Jahi’s status, stating that she sees changes in her daughter that “Jahi as healthy and beautiful as ever, proving the naysayers wrong. A fighter, A warrior, A blessed child, Gods got your back little girl, keep fighting.” 
 
 In the letter, Winkfield also thanked everyone who had supported her as she fought to move her daughter to another medical facility. 
 
 “Your testimony will be a great one. Prayers going up from many, all the prayers, good wishes combined with your mothers love for you which is pure and soothing will definitely keep you going. Stay blessed everyone and thank you for your prayers and love.” 
 
 In January 2014, Jahi was at the center of an intense legal battle between her family and Children’s Hospital Oakland in California. Although experts at the hospital had declared Jahi brain dead, her family refused to have her removed from life support and fought to have her transferred to another hospital. After raising nearly $50,000 in private donations, the family eventually had Jahi moved to an unidentified long-term care facility. 
 
 Winkfield said that the intense media response surrounding her family’s legal struggle ultimately helped to raise awareness of Jahi’s condition. 
 
 “I also want to thank those who felt the need to go public with their opinions about me and my daughter, positive and even negative,” Winkfield wrote in previous Facebook update. “It is because of you that my daughter's experience is so relevant and that people all over the world know who Jahi Mcmath is. What you may not know is that her name, Jahi, means one who is known by many. Hopefully my daughter can change some of the ways brain death is viewed in today's society. Honestly, I think she already has.” 
 
 
 
 Many medical experts have argued that being brain dead essentially means being dead, and it may be just a matter of time before Jahi’s body functions shut down completely. 
 
 According to Dr. Paul Vespa, director of neurocritical care at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has no role in Jahi's care, brain-dead people may look like they're sleeping, but it's "an illusion based on advanced medical techniques." 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| More than a month since she was moved from Children’s Hospital in Oakland, Jahi McMath — who was declared dead in December — is “much better physically” and “not suffering,” according to her family. 
 
 In her first post since the 13-year-old Oakland girl was taken to an undisclosed facility and given feeding and tracheostomy tubes, Nailah Winkfield, Jahi McMath’s mother, wrote on Facebook Wednesday that she sees in her daughter “changes that give me hope.” 
 
 “I know people are concerned and I want to make sure you know that Jahi is not suffering, she is surrounded by love,” she said. “I will never let her suffer.” 
 
 Three different doctors declared Jahi dead due to brain death following complications from a surgery to remove her tonsils, adenoids and other tissue as a treatment for sleep apnea. 
 
 She was connected to a ventilator and the hospital planned to disconnect it a week after she was declared brain-dead, but the girl’s family — who believes she is alive because her heart and lungs are still functioning — won a restraining order to stop the hospital. 
 
 After almost a month of legal battles, the family won court approval to keep Jahi connected to the ventilator and move her to a new facility, where her family members believe Jahi has a chance to recover. 
 
 The family, which has not released the name of the facility, citing safety and privacy concerns, has received help in paying for Jahi’s care from charitable donations and organizations. 
 
 In her Facebook post Wednesday, Jahi’s mother thanked not only Jahi’s supporters, but all “who felt the need to go public with their opinions about me and my daughter, positive and even negative.” 
 
 “It is because of you that my daughter’s experience is so relevant and that people all over the world know who Jahi Mcmath is,” she wrote. “What you may not know is that her name, Jahi, means one who is known by many. Hopefully my daughter can change some of the ways brain death is viewed in today’s society. Honestly, she already has.” ||||| Hospital agrees to let Jahi McMath family take girl Jahi McMath: Agreement clears way for transfer, but details undisclosed 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-5', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 5', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-10', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 10', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-15', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 15', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); 
 
 
 
 
 
 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-18', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 18', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Image 1 of 18 
 
 less Marvin Winkfield places his arm around his wife Nailah Winkfield, mother of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, as they wait outside a courtroom Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. A federal magistrate was expected to meet Friday with lawyers to try to resolve a dispute over the care ofJahi McMath, who was declared brain dead after tonsil surgery. Marvin Winkfield places his arm around his wife Nailah Winkfield, mother of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, as they wait outside a courtroom Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. A federal magistrate was expected ... more Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press Image 2 of 18 This undated photo provided by the McMath family and Omari Sealey shows Jahi McMath. McMath remains on life support at Children's Hospital Oakland nearly a week after doctors declared her brain dead, following a supposedly routine tonsillectomy. less This undated photo provided by the McMath family and Omari Sealey shows Jahi McMath. McMath remains on life support at Children's Hospital Oakland nearly a week after doctors declared her brain dead, following ... more Photo: Associated Press Image 3 of 18 
 
 less Marvin Winkfield, stepfather of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, waits outside a courtroom Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. A federal magistrate was expected to meet Friday with lawyers to try to resolve a dispute over the care of Jahi McMath, a 13-year-old girl who was declared brain dead after tonsil surgery. Marvin Winkfield, stepfather of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, waits outside a courtroom Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. A federal magistrate was expected to meet Friday with lawyers to try to resolve a ... more Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press Image 4 of 18 File - This undated file photo provided by the McMath family and Omari Sealey shows Jahi McMath. The family of a 13-year-old California girl who was declared brain dead after a tonsillectomy said Monday they will sue to keep her on life support. Family spokesman Omari Sealey, the uncle of Jahi McMath, disclosed the plan to seek a restraining order against the hospital where the girl is on a breathing machine. Under an order issued on Dec. 24 by a state judge, Jahi could be removed from a ventilator at Children's Hospital of Oakland at 5 p.m. PST. (AP Photo/Courtesy of McMath Family and Omari Sealey, File) less File - This undated file photo provided by the McMath family and Omari Sealey shows Jahi McMath. The family of a 13-year-old California girl who was declared brain dead after a tonsillectomy said Monday they ... more Photo: Uncredited, Associated Press Image 5 of 18 Image 6 of 18 Jahi's Uncle Omari Sealey, (left) Sandra Chatman, her grandmother and the family attorney Christopher Dolan after speaking to the news media about the court ordered extension while in front of Children's Hospital in Oakland, Ca., on Monday Dec. 30, 2013. 13-year-old Jahi McMath was slated to be removed from a ventilator at 5pm this afternoon but a court order has extended the deadline for the removal of the ventilator until 5pm January 7, 2014. less Jahi's Uncle Omari Sealey, (left) Sandra Chatman, her grandmother and the family attorney Christopher Dolan after speaking to the news media about the court ordered extension while in front of Children's ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 7 of 18 Jahi's Uncle Omari Sealey, (left) listens as Sandra Chatman talks about her grandaughter Jahi McMath while being joined by the family attorney Christopher Dolan, as they speak to the news media about the court ordered extension in front of Children's Hospital in Oakland, Ca., on Monday Dec. 30, 2013. 13-year-old Jahi McMath was slated to be removed from a ventilator at 5pm this afternoon but a court order has extended the deadline for the removal of the ventilator until 5pm January 7, 2014. less Jahi's Uncle Omari Sealey, (left) listens as Sandra Chatman talks about her grandaughter Jahi McMath while being joined by the family attorney Christopher Dolan, as they speak to the news media about the court ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 8 of 18 Nailah Winkfield, the mother of brain-dead girl Jahi McMath, embraces her brother Omari Sealey, after they stated that the court order to remove Jahi from a ventilator has been extended to January 7th 2014. The statement was made by the family to the news media in front of Children's Hospital in Oakland, Ca. , on Monday Dec. 30, 2013. 13-year-old Jahi McMath is slated to be removed from a ventilator at 5pm this afternoon, after being declared brain-dead by the hospital. less Nailah Winkfield, the mother of brain-dead girl Jahi McMath, embraces her brother Omari Sealey, after they stated that the court order to remove Jahi from a ventilator has been extended to January 7th 2014. The ... more Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle Image 9 of 18 The Uncle of Jahi McMath, Omari Sealey states that the court order to remove Jahi from a ventilator has been extended to January 7th 2014. The statement was made by the family to the news media in front of Children's Hospital in Oakland, Ca. , on Monday Dec. 30, 2013. 13-year-old Jahi McMath is slated to be removed from a ventilator at 5pm this afternoon, after being declared brain-dead by the hospital. less The Uncle of Jahi McMath, Omari Sealey states that the court order to remove Jahi from a ventilator has been extended to January 7th 2014. The statement was made by the family to the news media in front of ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 10 of 18 Image 11 of 18 LaVonte Thompson, 16, who is a close friend of Jahi McMath marching as he chants,"keep Jahi alive," around the vicinity of the Children's Hospital, Monday December 23, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. LaVonte Thompson, 16, who is a close friend of Jahi McMath marching as he chants,"keep Jahi alive," around the vicinity of the Children's Hospital, Monday December 23, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Image 12 of 18 Jahi McMath's little sister Makhai, McMath, 8, marches with other family members and supporters around the vicinity of the Children's Hospital, chanting, "Keep Jahi alive", Monday December 23, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. less Jahi McMath's little sister Makhai, McMath, 8, marches with other family members and supporters around the vicinity of the Children's Hospital, chanting, "Keep Jahi alive", Monday December 23, 2013, in ... more Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Image 13 of 18 Nailah Winkfield, mother of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, cries before a court hearing on Monday, Dec. 23, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. McMath remains on life support at the Children's Hospital Oakland after doctors declared her brain dead following a routine tonsillectomy procedure. A judge on Monday appoints Dr. Paul Fisher, Chief of Pediatric Neurology at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, to determine whether Jahi is legally dead as the family members continue to fight to keep McMath on life support. less Nailah Winkfield, mother of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, cries before a court hearing on Monday, Dec. 23, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. McMath remains on life support at the Children's Hospital Oakland after doctors ... more Photo: Stephen Lam, Special To The Chronicle Image 14 of 18 Nailah Winkfield mother of Jahi McMath, 13, attends a news conference in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013. Jahi McMath became brain dead after a tonsil surgery and the family has had to resist attempts by Children's Hospital staff to take her off of life support. less Nailah Winkfield mother of Jahi McMath, 13, attends a news conference in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013. Jahi McMath became brain dead after a tonsil surgery and the family has had to resist attempts ... more Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Image 15 of 18 Image 16 of 18 Family members of 13-year-old Oakland teen Jahi McMath are holding out hope for a miracle recovery after a routine procedure has left the girl brain dead. Family members of 13-year-old Oakland teen Jahi McMath are holding out hope for a miracle recovery after a routine procedure has left the girl brain dead. Photo: CBS San Francisco Image 17 of 18 FILE - This undated file photo provided by the McMath family and Omari Sealey shows Jahi McMath. McMath remains on life support at Children's Hospital Oakland nearly a week after doctors declared her brain dead, following a supposedly routine tonsillectomy. Her family was expected to appear with hospital officials in court Monday, Dec. 23, 2013 to announce the name of the independent physician they have chosen to provide a second opinion on the girl's condition. (AP Photo/Courtesy of McMath Family and Omari Sealey, File) less FILE - This undated file photo provided by the McMath family and Omari Sealey shows Jahi McMath. McMath remains on life support at Children's Hospital Oakland nearly a week after doctors declared her brain ... more Photo: Uncredited, Associated Press Image 18 of 18 Hospital agrees to let Jahi McMath family take girl 1 / 18 Back to Gallery 
 
 Children's Hospital Oakland reached an agreement with the family of Jahi McMath on Friday that will allow a critical care team to enter the hospital to move the girl to an unspecified facility. 
 
 The agreement, described in the Oakland courtroom of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo, is the latest development in an unusual battle between the hospital and the girl's family, who have rejected declarations that Jahi is dead as a result of brain death. 
 
 On Friday, the Alameda County coroner issued a death certificate stating that Jahi died on Dec. 12, three days after doctors at Children's Hospital performed a tonsillectomy that led to complications. 
 
 LATEST SFGATE VIDEOS Now Playing: Now Playing Fire Containment Explained San Francisco Chronicle 
 
 Golden Gate Clubhouse burns down in fire The Chronicle 
 
 NASA: Mars to come closest to Earth since 2003 San Francisco Chronicle 
 
 Weather conditions that lead to high fire danger in California Katie Wood / SFGATE 
 
 Birds fly through the Bay Area's smoky orange sky Jiz Lee 
 
 Smoke visible in Napa County from fire in Yolo Courtesy of Craig Philpott 
 
 Thousands march for immigrant rights in San Francisco Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle 
 
 Concord vegetation fire - from road San Francisco Chronicle 
 
 Concord vegetation fire - close up Courtesy of Allie Rocha 
 
 Pelicans released Roger Wyan, International Bird Rescue 
 
 But the family, which believes Jahi is alive because her heart continues to beat while she's on a ventilator, was making arrangements to move the girl out of the hospital and into a care facility. 
 
 Under the agreement, Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield, is "wholly and exclusively responsible for Jahi McMath the moment custody is transferred in the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit and acknowledge(s) that she understands that the transfer and subsequent transport could impact the condition of the body, including causing cardiac arrest." 
 
 The transport team will transfer Jahi's endotracheal tube from the hospital's ventilator to a new one, along with her IV and other fluids so that she can continue to breathe. 
 
 After a separate closed-door hearing at federal court in Oakland on Friday night, Winkfield told reporters, "She's definitely showing me improvements. If I felt that my child was suffering in any type of way, I would not keep her on that machine. I love her that much, that I would let her go. But since I've seen improvements every day, I will fight for Jahi every day. And so until my heart stops or her heart stops, I will always fight for Jahi until she is ready to go, her own self. I can't play God. She's going to get better or she's not, but I see her getting better." 
 
 Grillo refused the family's request to require doctors from the hospital or an outside physician to insert a feeding tube and a tracheostomy tube in Jahi, which the family had argued was necessary for her to be transferred. 
 
 Hospital attorney Douglas Straus told the judge the hospital would not allow any doctor to perform procedures on a deceased human being. 
 
 Christopher Dolan, attorney for Jahi's family, said the agreement removes the barriers the family had faced in taking the girl out of the hospital. The hospital had said it would allow the girl to be transferred to another site but had not heard from any such facility. 
 
 Now, under the agreement, the hospital will allow workers to enter its premises and remove Jahi without contact from a facility that would receive her. 
 
 Dolan said he would not discuss details about where or when Jahi will be moved but said that a doctor would perform any necessary surgical procedures at an undisclosed facility. 
 
 "Right now, arrangements are being made, and what we needed to know is that when all of the balls are in line, that we could move quickly, and not have any impediments," Dolan said outside court. "So this is a victory in terms of getting us one step closer." 
 
 Outside court, Straus said the agreement formalized an offer that the hospital "had been making for some period of time." 
 
 Jahi's family and attorney have accused Straus of referring to Jahi as "the body" or "the deceased," and in response to a reporter's question, Straus revealed that the case had been a trying one emotionally for him as well. 
 
 "Moral questions have a million answers," Straus said. "Personally it's horrible that this child has died. It's also horrible that it's so difficult for her family to accept that death. And I wish and I constantly think that wouldn't it be great if they were able to come to terms with a terrible tragic event and that I didn't have to stand in front of you all time after time." 
 
 He choked up and abruptly left. ||||| Family Wants Brain-Dead Girl Declared Alive SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The family of a teenager declared legally dead after complications from surgery for sleep apnea is taking its case to void her death certificate to Federal Court. 
 
 Jahi McMath, now 15 years old, underwent the surgery on Dec. 9, 2013 at Children's Hospital Oakland. The hospital is now a part of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. 
 
 Her tonsils and adenoids were removed, and her mother Nailah Winkfield claims in a 57-page civil suit the procedure was presented to her as "routine," and doctors described it as successful afterward. 
 
 But McMath soon started bleeding from the mouth so profusely that it had to be caught in a bucket, and although doctors reassured Winkfield that the bleeding was "normal," McMath suffered cardiac arrest and severe brain swelling. Doctors at the hospital pronounced her brain dead on Dec. 12. 
 
 Winkfield says that hospital officials continually pressured her to sign documents authorizing them to take her daughter off life support, and after an intense legal battle a judge in Alameda County Superior Court ruled that McMath met the legal criteria for brain death. 
 
 Before the hospital could take McMath off life support, Winkfield arranged for Jahi's transfer to a medical facility in New Jersey, where state law contains a religious exemption to brain death. 
 
 McMath is still in New Jersey, where she receives "minimal in-home care support," is in "excellent health," with "no skin or organ breakdown" and "irrefutable brain function," Winkfield says in her complaint. 
 
 McMath's family filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court in March for conditional wrongful death, naming the children's hospital and surgeon Frederick Rosen as defendants. 
 
 The federal lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Northern District of California, involves civil rights claims against the state of California, Alameda County, the Alameda County Department of Public Health, the California Department of Public Health and many of those entities' officials. 
 
 In the federal suit, Winkfield and McMath claim violations of their First, Fifth and 14th Amendment rights, including due process and the right to privacy. 
 
 "These government agencies and officials have failed to provide any process or avenue for Winkfield to prove that Jahi is not brain dead and have summarily, without any hearing, denied to even consider whether Jahi does not meet the criteria for brain death and is therefore alive," Winkfield says in the suit. 
 
 Winkfield says she "wishes to have her daughter's basic human right, to life, restored to her so that she can return to California, and specifically Oakland, the place where Winkfield and Jahi were born and raised, to be surrounded by the love and support of their family." 
 
 She adds, "As it is presently, should Jahi leave New Jersey, and its protections provided by New Jersey's religious exemption to brain death, she could be refused treatment, unplugged, even shot, without repercussion as she is legally dead in California. 
 
 "It is incumbent upon the U.S. District Court to exercise its constitutional and statutory powers and rectify this injustice." 
 
 Winkfield says her Christian religious beliefs "include a conviction requiring the provision of all treatment, care, and nutrition to a body that is living," arguing that Alameda County's actions have violated her right to exercise those beliefs. 
 
 Numerous signs, she says, indicate that her daughter is alive, including the onset of menstruation and multifaceted evidence of brain function - evidence she calls "uncontroverted and overwhelming." 
 
 "Jahi's remarkable strength and resiliency despite the serious brain injury she suffered, and her failure to exhibit the predicted deterioration, proves that 'in accordance with accepted medical standards,' Jahi has not in fact suffered 'irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem,'" Winkfield says in the suit. 
 
 According to the complaint, McMath's neurological status continues to improve, she understands words and she can move her fingers in response to verbal commands. 
 
 Christopher Dolan, McMath and Winkfield's attorney, said in a statement that "the fact that the state refuses to recognize the mountain of evidence that Jahi McMath does not meet brain death criteria is the most grave of injustices." 
 
 "In essence, they proclaim that once she is determined to be brain dead they will never revisit, or reconsider, the death sentence no matter what factual evidence is presented," he said. 
 
 "This is like refusing to reconsider a death sentence when evidence is presented demonstrating that the original conviction was erroneous, and the condemned was innocent." 
 
 The Alameda County Public Health Department did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on Thursday.
– More than two years after she was declared brain dead, Jahi McMath is as "healthy and beautiful as ever" and is "proving naysayers wrong," according to family members. In a March 15 Facebook post on the "Keep Jahi McMath on life support" page, family members shared a recent photo of the girl, who is now 15, NJ.com reports. The post continued, per NJ.com, "A fighter, A warrior, A blessed child, Gods got your back little girl, keep fighting. Your testimony will be a great one." The post is no longer publicly accessible (the Facebook link returns the line: "The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in"), and a fresh post to the page made late Sunday night asks anyone "here to spew your negative thoughts" to "remove yourself." The former Oakland, Calif., resident, who went into cardiac arrest after routine tonsil surgery in late 2013, has been on life support at a facility in New Jersey since early 2014. McMath's family—who moved to New Jersey because the state accommodates people who object to brain death declarations on religious grounds—has been seeking to have her death certificate revoked. Declaring her alive would allow them to move back to California, where she is considered legally dead, and would require insurance companies to cover the cost of her care. Fox 29 reports that in an earlier Facebook update, Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield, thanked those who shared their opinions about the case, even negative ones. "Hopefully my daughter can change some of the ways brain death is viewed in today's society," she wrote. "Honestly, I think she already has."