A woman in Ohio, United States, was a victim of a double amputation after her surgeons allegedly mistook her right leg for her left, the Daily Mail of UK reported on Tuesday, September 29.
Sharon Jacks is now suing a Selby General Hospital surgeons after the planned below-the-knee amputation of her right leg was allegedly botched, leaving her with no legs.
According to a 32-page lawsuit filed by Jacks and her attorney, Brad Layne, on Monday this week, the performance of the surgeons ‘constituted a complete failure of basic patient safety procedures and represented a never event under accepted healthcare standards.’
Though Jacks was scheduled to have her cancer-plagued right leg removed in September 2025, the complaint alleged that the surgeons amputated her healthy left leg instead.
“Wrong limb amputation should never happen,” Layne said in a statement regarding the lawsuit.
“There is simply no excuse. Complete and total failure by multiple medical professionals caused this catastrophe,” said Layne.
“Despite several opportunities to identify the mistake and stop the procedure, the surgical team somehow never noticed they were operating on the wrong leg.
“Now every day for the rest of her life, Sharon Jacks must live with the consequences of those failures,” he added, according to reports.
The lawsuit claimed that Jacks ‘has suffered severe physical injury, permanent disability, pain and suffering, emotional distress, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life, medical expenses and other damages.”
According to Layne, the lead surgeon marked the correct leg pre-surgery. The mark was still on the correct leg after the wrong leg had been removed. Layne alleged gross negligence.
The lawsuit names several co-defendants, including Selby General Hospital, Marietta Memorial Hospital, Marietta Area Health Care Inc., Marietta Health Care Physicians Inc. and First Settlement Orthopedics Inc., alongside multiple individual physicians.
Selby General Hospital gave a statement on the issue, stating: “We are saddened by what occurred, and our team continues to keep this patient and their family in our prayers.
“Our expected operating room procedures were not followed.”
They also claimed the medical professionals involved are ‘no longer in their positions,’ but did not elaborate on this.
The Daily Mail contacted Selby General Hospital for further comment and has not received a response as of Tuesday night.
