Doctors leave plastic tube in girl’s leg
When they took her to the hospital to have the tube removed, it was simply broken off and she was given painkillers
SINAZO Momoza (7), like any little girl her age, attends school and loves to play with other children.
The only difference is she does so on stumps as her legs were amputated from below the knee after she developed gangrene while being treated for meningitis at OR Tambo Memorial Hospital when she was just a year old.
Earlier this year the little girl was at Tembisa Hospital where staff found a plastic tube that had been left in her leg during an earlier operation. According to her mother, Nocawe, the girl was given painkillers and the pipe was simply broken off and she was sent home.
“After that incident she still complained about pain and when we checked her, we realised there was still some tube in her leg. It had to be removed surgically. “I don’t know how the hospital staff could not have seen that the pipe was in her leg the first time and then chose to just break it off,” she said.
Although Sinazo is on a waiting list to obtain prosthetics at OR Tambo Memorial, her mother was quite concerned and alarmed with the treatment they received at Tembisa Hospital after Sinazo’s amputation.
“We were referred to Tembisa Hospital when I took her to Bonaero Park Clinic when she had developed gangrene at OR Tambo Memorial. It was explained to me that they would amputate both legs from below the knee. I was told there was nothing more that could be done for her, so we took her to Tembisa Hospital and her legs were amputated,” explained the mother.
According to Tembisa Hospital, Sinazo returned to the hospital to have an abscess, which she had developed on her right leg stump, drained.
“She healed well, was discharged but lost to follow up and only re-appeared later with more complications. The patient was taken back to theatre to correct this,” the hospital replied to Kempton Express.The hospital stated it could not divulge any further medical information about Sinazo due to patient doctor confidentiality.
They also did not respond to the fact that the plastic tube left in the child’s leg was broken off without thorough inspection and told Express they were trying to get hold of the mother to explain Sinazo’s condition and offer her pyscho-social counselling.
“I don’t want to fight with the hospital. I just wanted people to know about the experience my daughter and I went through there. I am just waiting for a letter they will give us at Tembisa Hospital so I can finally get her her prosthetic legs,” she added.
