Children's Physician Recalls Callan Clancy's 'Brain Death' In Mother's Murder Trial

David Casavant is a physician in Boston Children's Hospital's intensive care unit who tried to save the life of 8-month-old Callan Clancy after his mother strangled him and his brother and sister on Jan. 24, 2023. Casavant testified in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial today (Monday, August 3, day 5) in Plymouth County Superior Court. 01:04 "And prior to taking over the care of Callan Clancy, did you do anything to familiarize yourself with his treatment and care?" "Yes, I did. One of my colleagues had taken care of him the day before in the ICU, and I spoke with her, and so I was familiar with his case." 01:42 "It seemed that Callan had had a severe neurologic injury, based on both testing and the examination that I did at the time." 04:08 "Well, one of the first things that I noticed as I approached him was that he had a breathing tube in place, and I knew from my colleague that he was not on any sedation, which is very difficult to tolerate, being having a breathing tube through the vocal cords if you're not sedated, and he was not sedated at the time." 06:06 "So, if I could go over a few of those things that you just mentioned, you said that the first thing that you noticed that was significant was that Callan had the breathing tube in place through the vocal cords without any sedation. So, without sedation, would having a breathing tube in that place cause pain?" "Yes, no one would be able to tolerate it."" "And so, Callan was able to tolerate it without any sedation, or that indicate he wasn't feeling that pain at that time?" "Yes, exactly." 07:06 "And what did these interactions and tests on Callan tell you about his condition?" "This told me that he was unresponsive. He was unresponsive to both things that would cause discomfort and things that would cause pain." 10:58 "So would it be fair to say that the the brainstem itself that controls those automatic responses was still functioning somewhat, but the part of the brain that made Callan Callan was not functioning?" "That's exactly correct." 14:57 "And did he have any response to any of the physical tests where you were looking for a reflex or a reaction?" "No, he did not. No response to any." 17:47 "And at that point in time, did he meet brain death criteria?" "Yeah, he he did.... So we had determined that it was that he had met death by neurologic criteria."