I saw 3 to 4 news reports, and they said he was diagnosed brain dead.
Then my supposition is most likely correct, and the reporters were reporting a coma (or vegetative state, locked-in syndrome, whatever) as brain dead when it is not. I can guarantee that the diagnosis was not brain dead, because death is an irreversible condition.
You cannot discount the possibility that the reporters of that story have an ulterior motive in misreporting the real diagnosis. Remember that many reporters fantasize about a "utopia" in which no one raises an eyebrow when "useless eaters" are killed off--and purposely confounding brain death and brain injury advances their agenda. It's much like they report on illegal aliens as if they are ordinary immigrants--by muddling the issue, they advance their agenda.