Teenager's reveals paralysis agony after gallstone operation - WalesOnline

A TEENAGE girl left paralysed from the waist down because of a hospital blunder said that for a long time she wished the mistake had killed her.

Sophie Tyler was 14 when her spine was permanently damaged during an operation to remove gallstones at the Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The once promising ballroom dancer spoke yesterday of the depression and suicidal thoughts she suffered after the mistake, which has only now been fully accepted as an error by the hospital.

Sophie, who is now 17 and who depends on a wheelchair, had been given an epidural anaesthetic to control the pain, however her spine was permanently damaged after the anaesthetic was left in place for too long.

The A-level student said: "When I first came home from hospital I felt depression.

"I wouldn't get out of bed and I would just lie there wishing it had never happened or wishing they had killed me.

"Instead I have had to live with the consequences of reality and someone else's mistake."

Her family fought the hospital to recognise its mistake with the help of legal aid and will now be able to seek compensation.

Sophie, of Risca, Newport, said she complained of numbness in her right leg the day after the operation, but she could feel no pain as the epidural continued to be pumped into her spine.

The numbness then spread to both legs and the teenager was barely able to move her feet. However, staff did not stop the infusion of the painkiller until two days after its insertion.

The following day the teenager had an MRI scan, which revealed that the anaesthetic had entered the spinal cord and damaged the membranes.

Sophie, who is studying A-levels in art, product design, sociology and law and hopes to study fashion at Brighton University, said: "I was a bit panicky about the numbness but everyone was reassuring me that that is what happens with an epidural.

"I can't really remember them telling me the news as I hadn't slept and was on painkillers.

"It only really sank in when I came out of hospital and came home. I was trying to go back to normal life and couldn't. I didn't want to get out of bed and became depressed."

Sophie said just going out with her friends is now a struggle.

She said: "I think things have got better but it was hard for a while. It still is hard most of the time and there is a lot of frustration."

Sophie's mother, Sue, said the family had moved house five times since the operation to find a suitable property and had given up her job as a senior manager for a drug aid charity.

Sue, 44, said: "This has completely transformed our lives. Before she had so much confidence and self-esteem and she was as cheeky as any other teenage girl.

"But when Sophie came out of hospital she didn't want to live, she was suicidal. She would rather have died than be paralysed."

Their solicitor, Tim Deeming of Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, is now calling for lessons to be learnt to safeguard future patient welfare.

Mr Deeming, a medical law expert, said: "Sophie and her family have been devastated by what has happened.

"She and her family put their trust in the hospital and believed that within a few days she would be on the road to recovery.

"At the age of 14 to be told the news that you will never walk again is unimaginable and to discover that mistakes which were entirely avoidable had been made, has been incredibly hard for them to cope with."

Dr Vin Diwakar, Chief Medical Officer at Birmingham Children's Hospital, said: "We are deeply sorry for the unimaginable distress we have caused Sophie and her family as a result of the care she received at our hospital three years ago.

"The care we provided fell below our usual high standards and since then we have implemented a whole series of changes to try to ensure that this never happens again."