48-year-old Jason Kennedy had undergone an operation at Grace Hospital in Manitoba, Canada, to remove his right leg due to a severe bone infection.
Kennedy, a former commercial fisherman, had first sought medical attention at Seven Oaks General Hospital in October after experiencing pain and bleeding in his right foot.
Jason Kennedy underwent an operation to have his leg amputated. (aptnNEWS)
The decision to amputate his right limb was made days later, with the procedure scheduled for October 31.
Kennedy, who is originally from Bloodvein First Nation but lives in Winnipeg, said it was only after the operation had taken place that he discovered surgeons had amputated his left leg instead of his right.
He said: “I was just wondering if this was a bad dream. The pain is still in my [right] foot and it’s there right now as we speak.”
A representative for the Winnipeg Regional Healthy Authority said that due to patient confidentiality, they can only provide limited information “in this complex clinical situation”.
The spokesperson also acknowledged the distress caused by the incident to the patient, their family and the care providers. They said: “Members of the care team have personally met with the patient to offer their sincere apologies and to discuss next steps.”
The incident is currently being reviewed by the patient safety team. The results will be shared with the patient once completed.
Kennedy has revealed that he received an apology from the surgeon and “two other colleagues” following the incident.
He has chosen to speak out to raise awareness on the issue but has now accepted that his left leg is gone.
“I knew right away it was my left leg that was gone and I thought, ‘this can’t be happening’,” he said.
Jason woke up to find the wrong leg had been amputated. (aptnNEWS)
Kennedy added: “All I could do was think, ‘why is this happening to me?’ I was under the impression it was going to be my right leg because that’s where the worst pain is. And my first thoughts were forgiveness is in my mind, I could forgive a person easily because I learned from my family like my mom and my dad and my grandma. I learned from them how forgiveness is important.”
Kennedy’s mother, Yvonne, had travelled to be by her son’s side following his amputation. However, when she got back home to Waterhen, her son informed her what had happened.
She recalled: “He said, ‘mom, there’s something I need to tell you.’ He said, ‘I didn’t want to tell you when you had to travel home.’ He said, ‘they cut off the wrong leg’.”
Kennedy’s mother added: “He needs to be compensated for what has happened to him.”
