Recently reported in the Daily Mail, a critically-acclaimed British composer, Andrew Downes, has been left wheelchair bound after a hospital misdiagnosed his fractured spine for a urine infection.
Medical staff at the Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley failed to diagnose a fractured back after the 61-year-old suffered a fall at his home in October 2009.
He was given morphine after complaining of severe back pain but the hospital diagnosed a urine infection and failed to send him for an X-ray which would have highlighted his fractured spine.
Composer Mr. Downes said he was terrified after he woke up with no feeling in his legs. According to Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, as a result of the delay in his diagnoses, he received a complete spinal cord injury.
Mr Downes said: 'The back pain was far worse than anything I'd experienced before and I knew it definitely wasn't a urine infection. When I was asked to walk around it made the pain excruciating, I knew something wasn't right. I was put on morphine for the pain which left me disorientated and drifting in and out of consciousness and one time I woke up and I had lost all feeling in my legs. It was a terrifying feeling. To be walking around one day, and then unable to move little more than 24 hours later was beyond belief.'
Representation through Irwin Mitchell Solicitors has led to Andrew Downes, from Birmingham, winning his negligence case against The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust.
He added: 'Now that the trust has admitted their mistakes I just hope they take note and improve their care in future. I wouldn't want anyone to experience what I am going through.'
The married father-of-two will require a lifetime of care and help to live as independently as possible through his continued rehabilitation.