‘Hospital should have saved my husband’s foot’ Wife claims partner ‘begged’ to have infected toe amputated before infection spread further
THE wife of a Birmingham security guard who was forced to have his foot amputated has claimed it could have been saved if doctors had done more to stop an infection spreading.
Leston Morgan, 59, initially travelled to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Edgbaston, for dialysis – but ended up losing his right foot.
Mr Morgan suffers from the genetic condition Allport Syndrome. As a result, he has kidney failure and has to have dialysis three times a week.
But Mr Morgan’s nightmare began when he found a purple blood spot on his toe in June.
A week later he went as normal for dialysis but collapsed while having the treatment and was admitted into hospital. By that time his toe had turned black.
His wife Josephine claimed Mr Morgan begged to have it amputated for fear of the infection spreading.
But she claimed his pleas went unheard before two more toes on the same foot started turning black.
On July 15, all three were amputated and a further three operations were carried out to save his foot.
Eventually nothing could be done and Mr Morgan underwent an operation to have the foot removed.
Mrs Morgan, 59, a former job centre worker, said: “Leston begged them to take the one toe off so that the infection wouldn’t spread. But his pleas went unheard.
“Rather than listening to him, doctors argued between themselves over the course of Leston’s treatment.
“Meanwhile, two other toes turned black and then all three had to be removed.
“They then kept checking the sole of his foot, to try and stop it from going septic. The blood wasn’t flowing properly and finally, his foot was amputated.
“Leston made that decision because he wanted to stop the infec- tion spreading any further. He feels very let down by the doctors and nurses over his care.”
Mrs Morgan said her husband had a meeting with the doctors last week and were hit with the further bombshell that Mr Morgan’s other leg could now be affected.
A spokeswoman for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the QE, said: “We are sorry that the family are unhappy with Mr Morgan’s care and have responded to their concerns through the formal complaints process.
“The clinical team responsible for Mr Morgan’s treatment has reassured the family that he is receiving appropriate and timely care. We will continue to liaise with them throughout his treatment with us.”