When medicine and faith define death differently

Thirteen-year-old Ezadin Mahmoud was pronounced dead on August 27th, 2014, in Portland, Maine. His heart was beating and his breath was still warm, but his brain stem had been severed. He had been practicing backflips with his brothers when he landed on his head. If radioactive tracers were inserted in his veins, it would show his blood rerouting around the swollen brain stem, like water moving around a dead log. One might note how his pupils failed to respond to light. If removed from the ventilator, his breathing would slow to a halt.