A hospital has apologised to an Ipswich woman who had her right leg amputated following complications with a knee operation.
Karen Flory is taking legal action over her treatment at Ipswich Hospital, following what was expected to be routine surgery last year to have inflamed tissue removed from her right knee.
But Kester Cunningham John, the law firm representing Ms Flory, said blood circulation problems resulted in medics amputating the 37-year-old’s leg above the knee in a separate operation hours later.
Her lawyer, Tom Cook, said her life had been changed as a result of the operation.
He said: “Karen has been left significantly disabled. She continues to experience pain in her residual right limb as well as phantom limb pains.
“Because she thought she was going into hospital for a straight forward and perfectly safe operation, the shock of what has happened to her has caused her anxiety and depression.
“The hospital has admitted responsibility for the error, but we need now to establish what would be a correct level of damages to compensate her for her loss.”
A spokeswoman for Ipswich Hospital Trust said: “The Trust has provided a full admission and apology regarding failings in Ms Flory’s management leading to her amputation. This admission was made in advance of court proceedings and the trust apologised unreservedly for the admitted errors.”
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