Cancer patient sues hospital after surgeon allegedly amputated wrong leg: Defies explanation

A cancer-stricken Ohio woman who underwent a required amputation procedure last year is now a double amputee — after her surgeon allegedly cut off the wrong leg, according to a lawsuit.Sharon Jacks was set to have a below-the-knee amputation of her right leg at Selby General Hospital in Marietta, Ohio, on Sept.

19, 2025 but was left shocked when she woke up to her left leg gone, according to the 32-page complaint obtained by WBNS. “She went into surgery, and when she woke up, the wrong leg had been taken off,” Jacks’ attorney Brad Layne told the outlet.“It defies explanation, obviously.”Doctors later had to remove the leg that was originally scheduled for surgery, which has left Jacks as a double amputee.

Jacks filed a lawsuit against her surgeon, other members of the surgical team and the hospital on Sept.15.

In a press release, Jacks’ attorney argued “there is simply no excuse” for what happened to his client, WCHS reported.Layne alleged that “complete and total failure by multiple medical professionals caused this catastrophe.”“Despite several opportunities to identify the mistake and stop the procedure, the surgical team somehow never noticed they were operating on the wrong leg,” he said.“Now every day for the rest of her life, Sharon Jacks must live with the consequences of those failures.”Medical records reviewed by Jacks’ attorney indicate the surgeon initially marked the correct leg before she went under the knife — but the wrong leg was still chopped off.

“The mark was still on the correct leg after the wrong leg had been taken off,” Layne claimed.According to the suit, the medical team carried out two surgical “time-outs” prior to Jacks’ procedure.“Time-outs” are conducted to confirm the patient’s identity, the planned operation and the correct surgical site before an incision is made, according to the complaint. “Every person in that operating room is responsible to make sure that that is verifi...