An engineer has settled his surgical negligence claim after a mistake during leg surgery left him with long-term pain, two major operations and a long recovery.
Timeline of events
In spring 2018, Nigel was in a motorbike accident and broke the bones in his lower right leg. He had surgery the next day to fix the fractures using metal rods and screws.
But something went wrong during that first surgery. His leg bones healed in the wrong position – shorter than they should have been and twisted outwards. This caused ongoing pain and made it hard for him to walk properly.
In 2019, Nigel had to go through another major operation to fix the problem. The surgeons removed the metal rods and used a special circular frame to slowly straighten and lengthen his leg. The frame stayed on for almost a year, until spring 2020.
After that, Nigel went through a long period of rehab to build up strength and learn to walk properly again. He wasn’t able to return to work until early 2021.
Doctors later admitted that the bones were wrongly positioned during the first surgery. If that surgery had been done properly, Nigel would have recovered in just a couple of months. Instead, he spent nearly three years in pain and going through more surgery and recovery
Nigel now has eight scars on his right leg, each about 1cm long. They’ve healed, but the skin is raised and still numb in places. The physical and emotional toll of the long recovery affected his day-to-day life, work and wellbeing.
How we helped Nigel’s surgical negligence case
Nigel got in touch with us to find out if he had a case. We gathered medical evidence and the hospital admitted they had made a mistake in the first surgery. They agreed this mistake caused the need for a second operation and a much longer recovery. The claim was settled without going to court. Nigel received compensation for the pain, time off work and the long recovery that could have been avoided.
A note from Fernanda Simionato-Ayling
“Nigel’s case shows how a mistake during surgery can have a big impact. Instead of healing quickly, he went through years of pain, another major surgery and months of rehab. While he’s now back to work and doing well, what he went through could have been avoided. We’re glad the hospital admitted their mistake and that Nigel now has the support he needs moving forward.”
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