Pretoria - A shot in the upper thigh during an attempted hijacking and subsequent substandard treatment at two provincial hospitals in Limpopo resulted in a shop owner having most of his right leg amputated.
Asif Ismail lodged a damages claim for R4.6 million against the Limpopo MEC for Health.
The high court in Pretoria is due to later hear evidence as to the extent of the damages he had suffered, but Judge Francis Legodi in the meantime has ordered the health authorities to make an interim payment of R1m to Ismail.
He was shot on June 30, 2011, during an attempted hijacking in Limpopo. His thigh bled profusely and he was rushed by ambulance to the nearby Tshilidzini Hospital in Thohoyandou. His wound was closed in the emergency room, but he was told by the doctors his injury was not serious.
Ismail was discharged a few days later, but the wound was still bleeding, so he went to a clinic the next day. His right foot was swollen and his toes were going black. His worried family took him to a private doctor, who found that his blood circulation was compromised.
It was arranged that he be taken to the Mankweng Hospital in Polokwane. It was found that he suffered from so-called compartment syndrome (when excessive pressure builds up in an enclosed space). There was also no improvement in his blood circulation.
The local vascular surgeon was not available as he was abroad. Nothing further was done to Ismail’s leg, until the surgeon arrived back in the country weeks later. The surgeon then told Ismail the limb was not viable and he suggested amputation.
Ismail’s wife was unhappy with the treatment her husband had received and decided to send him to India for treatment. In India an above the knee amputation was done due to gangrene and septicaemia.
An expert in a report handed to court said the leg could have been saved if Ismail had received the correct and immediate treatment.
He should have, within hours of the injury, been transferred to a hospital with a vascular surgical service to repair the vascular injury.
It was said that the medical staff at the hospitals missed the vascular injury or failed to recognise its significance. They thus did not see the need to immediately transfer him to a facility for vascular surgery.
It was concluded the treatments he received at the hospitals were substandard and not acceptable.
Lawyer Greyling Erasmus said had his client had the correct treatment, he would not be disabled today.
Pretoria News