A woman had both legs amputated after a surgeon confused her left and right limb, according to a legal claim. Sharon Jacks, 74, has launched a lawsuit against Selby General Hospital and its doctors in Ohio, US, after the planned below-the-knee operation went "catastrophically" wrong.
Ms Jacks was expecting surgery on her right leg after cancer was discovered, but woke to discover both legs were gone, despite the medic marking the correct leg before the procedure started. The incident left her "distressed and humiliated," according to reports.
Legal claim details
Ms Jacks' lawyer said the surgical team had "multiple chances to spot the grave mistake" according to a 32-page lawsuit, which names Selby General Hospital, Marietta Memorial Hospital, and a team of doctors and physicians. The document claimed the patient suffered severe and permanent bodily injury, pain and suffering, and a loss of enjoyment of life.
Brad Layne is representing the Jacks family and made a statement after the legal case was launched. "Wrong limb amputation should never happen," he said. "There is simply no excuse." He added: "Complete and total failure by multiple medical professionals caused this catastrophe. Despite several opportunities to identify the mistake and stop the procedure, the surgical team somehow never noticed they were operating on the wrong leg."
Hospital response
The lawsuit, filed last week, added that Ms Jacks suffered emotional distress and humiliation after the alleged error. "Standard operative procedures require the surgical team to conduct surgical time-outs to verify the patient, procedure and correct operative site before proceeding with surgery," the papers read. "Though the medical records say that two time-outs did occur, the surgical team still amputated the wrong leg."
Selby General Hospital confirmed that the medical staff involved "were held accountable for their actions and are no longer in their positions." In a statement, the hospital said: "In September 2025, an adverse surgical event occurred at Selby General Hospital. At that time, our team responded immediately to address the medical needs of the patient involved and provide support to their family." The statement continued: "Our proactive review of what took place confirmed this was an avoidable event, and that our expected operating room procedures were not followed."
