A man in Austria was at the center of a horrible mix-up.
An 82-year-old man was scheduled to have his left leg removed on Tuesday. But due to “human error,” a doctor at the Freistadt Clinic amputated his right leg instead.
According to the clinic, the mistake happened because a hospital worker wrote down the wrong leg on the patient’s surgical documents. It wasn’t until employees were redressing the man’s wound post-operation that the hospital noticed the mistake.
“It was (Thursday) morning, in the course of the standard wound dressing change, that the tragic mistake, caused by human error, was discovered,” a statement from the clinic reads, per CNN. Following the mistake, the man had to have the correct leg removed above the knee as well. “A disastrous combination of circumstances led to the patient’s right leg being amputated instead of his left.”
Although this was a massive blunder, the hospital does claim that the man was suffering from “numerous medical conditions” that impacted both of his legs. However, the surgeon who performed the procedure has requested not to be on duty.
The man’s family was informed of the mistake and has been offered psychological support. Also, the hospital has sent the details of the incident to the region’s public prosecutor where it will be decided if an investigation is necessary.
“We would also like to affirm that we will be doing everything to unravel the case, to investigate all internal processes and critically analyze them,” the statement continued. “Any necessary steps will immediately be taken.”
