75-year-old's broken heel turns into amputated leg after nursing home fails to remove 'immobilizing ankle boot,' leading to severe stage 4 pressure ulcer: Lawsuit

A Kentucky pistillate admitted into a nursing location for "short-term" rehabilitation pursuing an ankle fracture ended up having to get her near limb amputated beneath the genu aft staffers "failed to travel the orders" of her orthopedic surgeon, a lawsuit says.

Staff astatine the Coldspring Transitional Care Center successful Campbell County allegedly failed to region Brenda Roberts' "immobilizing ankle boot" portion the 75-year-old Williamstown nonmigratory was laying successful furniture and chairs during her recovery, which resulted successful her near bottommost resting against "the hard integrative surfaces" of the boot, according to her legal complaint.

This yet caused "exposure of the tegument implicit heel" and "excessive pressure," starring to a signifier 4 ulcer and "accelerated deterioration of her health," the ailment alleges. Roberts' lawyer, Matt Mooney, says she had to person the little fractional of her limb chopped disconnected arsenic a result.

"No 1 expects a regular rehabilitation enactment to extremity successful a catastrophic wounded and an amputation," Mooney told Law&Crime. "Too often, what we spot alternatively is preventable harm caused by understaffing and inadequate care."

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Mooney says that during Roberts' clip astatine Coldspring, the septuagenarian was forced to ticker arsenic "the afloat thickness of tegument and insubstantial implicit her bottommost bone" died disconnected owed to compression of the tissues from "excessive unit cutting disconnected humor travel to the area," per the complaint. This was due to the fact that she was forced to proceed wearing her aesculapian boot, according to Mooney.

"Defendants' nonaccomplishment to region the immobilizing ankle footwear from her near ft portion Brenda Roberts was laying successful furniture and/or seated successful a seat was not conscionable a nonaccomplishment to travel her doctor's orders but besides a nonaccomplishment to travel mean attraction and minimum information practices expected of the defendants," the ailment charges. "[Roberts] suffered unnecessary nonaccomplishment of idiosyncratic dignity, utmost symptom and suffering, degradation, intelligence anguish, disability, disfigurement, each of which were caused by the wrongful behaviour of defendants."

Mooney tells Law&Crime that families are expected to beryllium capable to "trust short-term rehab facilities to assistance their loved ones retrieve and spell home," not get worse.

More from Law&Crime: 'Put him backmost successful his bed': Dead 64-year-old sat with fractured spine for 17 hours aft nursing location ignored seriousness of 'catastrophic' fall, suit says

"Defendants owed a work to Brenda Roberts to person successful spot procedures and protocols to decently attraction for residents," the ailment concludes.

"I felt neglected there," Roberts told local ABC affiliate WCPO. "I didn't person anyone truly coming to look astatine my foot."

Coldspring did not respond to Law&Crime's requests for remark Sunday.