Iona Napier
A BRITISH expat is taking legal action against a hospital after a routine operation left her partially paralysed.
Grandmother Carolyn Emmett was left with no movement in her left leg after an operation on her right femur went badly wrong, in December 2013.
Two years after the procedure at Xanit International Hospital, in Benalmadena, the 61-year-old is still forced to walk with a stick and suffers from depression.
“It has been a total nightmare. After the operation I suffered indescribable pain and had no movement in my left leg,” Emmett told the Olive Press.
“I couldn’t walk for two months, drive for nine months and have still not had an apology from the hospital.”
The Ronda-based image consultant is now set to sue the hospital for failing to accept any responsibility for the injury.
A neurologist’s report appears to back her view that the ‘accident’ occurred after she was administered an epidural without her knowledge.
The report also states that Emmett suffered damage in the peroneal nerve, which she believes was due to metal leg supports used during the operation.
The hospital has never accepted responsibility, despite the anaesthetist who administered the epidural personally transferring money to Emmett to make up for it.
In total, she received €1,200 from his personal bank account, while he also part-funded her rehabilitation, paying €900 for ‘hyperbaric chamber therapy’.
Indeed, the anaesthetist’s lawyer and insurance company have agreed to take 50% of the liability if Hospital Xanit accepts the other half.
But the hospital insists Emmett’s predicament came about as a result of a ‘previous bone marrow injury’, a claim she strenuously denies.
“It is completely untrue. I have never had such an injury,” added Emmett, from Stratford-upon-Avon.
“I feel frustrated, but most of all annoyed, because the hospital continually ignores my claims.
“Why, if the anaesthetist feels sorry, am I being ignored? It feels like the hospital keeps turning me down as a matter of course.
“I am only asking for €10,000 which I have spent on treatment and need moving forwards,” she added.
Emmett, who moved to Montejaque, near Ronda, five years ago with her husband, Kevin, 65, had to live in rental accommodation for six weeks after the operation.
She claims she is still spending €300 per month on medicine alone and suffers from bouts of depression as a result.
Xanit hospital refused to answer Olive Press questions, claiming ‘data protection laws’ prevented them from commenting.
