Man, 24, lost leg after football tackle because docs missed test
A MAN who broke his leg in a Sunday league football match had to have it amputated after a hospital failed to carry out a simple test.
Robert Oliver, 24, fractured his shin and calf bone in a tackle after he scored a goal.
He was rushed to A&E for an operation.
But medics failed to carry out a full muscle stretch test, which would have showed up compartment syndrome — a condition where pressure builds up and leaves muscles prone to paralysis and infection.
They also did not carry out a procedure that would have relieved pressure in the damaged muscle.
The condition was only diagnosed four days after Robert had been admitted to Birmingham Heartlands Hospital A&E.
Emergency surgery to treat it did not work and his leg became infected.
It had to be taken off below the knee six months later in October 2008.
Robert, from Birmingham, said: "I still struggle to believe that a game of football led to me losing my leg. My life has changed forever as a result of their negligence.
"I spent a year being really angry with the hospital. I was really down and depressed.
"I was really p****d off with the doctors for missing it."
Reliving the game, the aerospace engineer said: "During the game someone threw themselves at me just after I had scored a goal.
Scar
"The noise sounded like a branch snapping.
"The whole time in hospital I was in absolute agony. It was the worst pain I've ever had. My foot was numb.
"I thought something wasn't right and there could be a more serious problem.
"After four days they measured the pressure in my leg and discovered I had compartment syndrome.
"They should have done it straight after the operation and put a slice in the side of my leg to relieve the pressure. Then I would have just been left with a small scar."
Robert, who had to have a total of 17 operations on his leg, is now hoping to compete in the 2016 Brazil Paralympics as a kayaker.
He missed out on a place in London 2012 but said: "My plan is to go to Rio.
"At my trial it was the first time I'd been in a kayak and I fell in six times."
Oliver has since successfully sued the hospital for compensation.
A spokesman for the hospital said: "We would again like to offer our sincere apologies to Mr Oliver that some of the care he received at Heartlands Hospital in 2008 fell below the standard that you would expect.
"We hope that the compensation received will assist with Mr Oliver's care and improve his quality of life."
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