Girl declared brain dead remains on life support

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A 13-year-old California girl declared brain dead after tonsil surgery remained on life support today after a state judge gave her family at least another week to find a place to move her.

Doctors at Children's Hospital Oakland want to take Jahi McMath off the machines that are keeping her body functioning, saying she will never recover. Her family wants to continue life support, saying they have hope she will still pull through.

Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield, hailed the judge's decision to give them until Jan. 7 before allowing the hospital to withdraw life support as an answer to her prayers and a sign that she has been right to keep fighting for the teen.

With television cameras clustered outside the hospital, the family maintained a vigil as the Monday deadline approached.

When Winkfield heard of the judge's decision to push back the deadline, she wept and hugged relatives outside the hospital.

"Who wants to know the date and the time their child would die?" Winkfield said. "I don't care what anyone has to say about what I'm doing. ... I have to do what is right for me and for Jahi."