A man had his arms and legs amputated after a common hospital procedure went horribly wrong, SİA informs via Daily Mail.
Chad Gerlaugh, now 46 and from outside Tampa, Florida, was admitted to the hospital in April 2019 for an operation to remove a kidney stone.
The procedure went well, with doctors inserting a tube into his urethra — the tube that carries urine out of the body — to remove the stone and transfer him to the recovery unit.
But days later, Mr Gerlaugh's blood pressure would drop dramatically and his heart would stop for seven minutes.
Doctors found he had contracted a post-surgery infection, causing sepsis — a life-threatening condition that leads organs to start to shut down.
He was put on antibiotics and a vasopressor drug, used to treat low blood pressure, which caused his blood vessels to tighten, redirecting blood to his vital organs but away from his extremities.
Over the next few days, he had to watch as his limbs turned black and started to die. Eventually, doctors were forced to amputate them.
Mr Gerlaugh had been in a wheelchair since 1998 after a car crash left him with spinal damage and only limited motion in his arms.
But he didn't let that affect his resolve, modifying a vehicle so he could drive, working a $70,000-a-year job as a technical support worker for Spectrum.
He was able to do nearly everything himself, and only needed help getting dressed and getting into or out of bed.
But since the amputations, Mr. Gerlaugh has been left relying on his parents to help him eat, wash, shave and go to the bathroom. Sometimes, he has to call someone just to scratch his nose or head.
For the amputations, both his legs were amputated above the knee, while his left arm was amputated above the elbow halfway up the bicep and his right arm was amputated mid-forearm.
It is unlikely that there is enough of any limb left for prosthetics, attornies said.
'My life is never going to be the same,' he said in a family video, reports Tampa Bay Times, 'I gotta ask for help. For everything.'
The tragic case was revealed in court filings from attorney Steve Yerrid against the hospital where he was treated, Morton Plant Hospital.
In court papers, the hospital was accused of failing to manage Mr Gerlaugh's care properly, which may have avoided the need for the amputations.
The case has now been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Lawyers not involved in the case say that, in Florida, the typical settlement for the amputation of one limb ranges from $200,000 to $2 million.
Bütün xəbərlər Facebook səhifəmizdə
USD
EUR
GBP
RUB