Family Of Comatose Woman Gets Reprieve From Hospital Decision To Remove Life Support

ANAHEIM (CBSLA.com)  —  The family of an Orange County woman in a coma at Anaheim Regional Medical Center was given a reprieve Friday.

Lisa Avila, 37, and the mother of seven, was due to be removed from life support against her family's wishes at 4 p.m.

The hospital said Avila is brain dead. Her family insists she is alive and does not want to give up.

CBS2's Michele Gile said a large group of Avila's friends and family gathered outside the medical facility.

On Friday, family posted video of the Anaheim woman in a coma and a photo of her youngest child holding her hand.

Despite the diagnosis of brain death, the family says they are not giving up hope.

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"I think it should be our decision, not their decision," Avila's daughter Cynthia Holguin said. "We need more time for my mom. They don't know -- when they see my mom move, they don't think anything of it. Oh, she's moving. They don't see the things we see."

The family has filed a lawsuit alleging that Avila was misdiagnosed and not properly treated for a tubal pregnancy and that the staff is to blame for her comatose condition.

"I'm only 16," says Justine Holguin, "I shouldn't be thinking about 'Oh, they're going to kill my mom. They're going to take out the thing and her not being able to breathe.' I shouldn't be thinking that."

Avila's husband has pleaded with the hospital for more time to move his wife to a long-term care facility. Gile reports they told him he has until noon Tuesday.

Gile asked the hospital for a comment, and it said its statement remains the same from one it made Wednesday: its thoughts and prayers are with Lisa Avila's family and due to privacy reasons, it can't disclose much more.