A Dumfries man’s right knee cap was shattered after he fell off a bridge while fishing in Oxfordshire, breaking his femur and a subsequent water-borne infection then destroyed flesh and muscle leaving a four inch gap.
Radcliffe Hospital doctors in Oxfordshire performed eight operations: successfully replacing leg muscle with calf muscle; inserting an alloy plate through the leg; managing to kill the infection to save his leg.
He was in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary due to have the alloy plate removed and replaced with a hip to femur bone graft and believed this was the operation he was about to undergo when it became clear, just minutes prior to surgery, that doctors were planning to amputate part of his leg.
The hospital apologized via the press, saying it was a ‘misunderstanding’ and have sent him a letter saying they think he may be suffering from a chronic bone infection which requires a bone tissue biopsy.
The Dumfries man responded : “They don’t even know if I have a bone infection or not and it does not look as if they are in any hurry to find out, yet they were prepared to take my leg off. It all needs to be sorted and soon.”