7 Days

Dubai, Oct 4: A woman who underwent complicated operations to make her legs the same length is suing a hospital in Dubai for Dhs 10 million, after the botched surgeries left her ‘short’ leg longer than the other.

Her ‘short’ leg is now a full seven centimetres longer.

The 26-year-old Iraqi said she had endured seven different operations, lost her job due to the medical procedures and was temporarily confined to a wheelchair. She is now forced to use a walking stick to get around.

Her lawyer, Abdullah Al Nasir, from the Araa Group for advocates and legal consultants, said she is suing the hospital and its surgeons for the distress caused by the series of botched operations.

He said screws used in the operations to fix bones together had come loose and were still inside her and that “even carpenters wouldn’t have caused as much damage” if they had carried out the procedures.

On the first occasion the woman was to undergo the leg lengthening procedure, surgeons were forced to cancel the operation after she was anaesthetised as they realised their measurements were incorrect, Al Nasir.

Two month later, she was assured the surgery would be a 100 per cent success and underwent the first of her operations.

However, she was unable to walk due to temporary paralysis and required six more operations, Al Nasir said.

He added that one of the screws used in the operations was still “swimming inside her back” after working itself free from her hip.

Her shorter leg, which was supposed to be lengthened by a few centimetres to match her other leg, was now seven centimetres longer.

“The dhs10 million is not only compensation for my client for her unnecessary suffering, but also a kind of punishment for the hospital for its neglect in looking after her,” Al Nasir said.

The private hospital, near Port Rashid, refused to comment on the case, which is expected to last a number of months.