Brain injuries are difficult for everyone. Some people don’t cope well. It’s become common practice to remove life support, and even food and water, rather than deal with a severe brain injury. People usually cope with what they’ve done by pretending their loved one died at the moment their brain was injured. Defining someone as dead makes it easier to deprive them of life sustaining measures, and helps avoid the feelings of guilt associated with starving and dehydrating someone to death.
I went through that last year at this time. My father at age 84 suddenly suffered a debilitating bout with dementia. He could not care for himself anymore. We found him lying on the floor of his condo unshaven, uncleaned and not haven eaten in many days. Over the course of the next 6 weeks he was in and out of intensive care to a nursing care facility and back because of seizures and other complications. Then at the end he could not properly swallow food or drink anymore (went right into his lungs and caused an infection).
As per his written wishes he did not want to be placed on life support, in this case a feeding tube. So he was transferred back out of the hospital to the nursing home where he was allowed to pass after a few days of not being fed or given water.
It gave us all a chance to say our final goodbyes, even though he had difficulty remembering everyone. He passed on Father’s Day 2016.