Sent home twice

Killer germ not recognized: Mother (25) lost leg

25-year-old Klara O. lost her right thigh following a bacterial infection. Did the doctors react incorrectly beforehand?(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Eva Manhart, zVg)

Two hospitals sent a young Viennese woman home, a bacterial infection went unnoticed. The 25-year-old mother eventually had to have a thigh amputated.

Nothing is as it was for this young mother from Vienna. Sports enthusiast and Thai boxer and gymnast Klara O. woke up in July with pain in her thigh. On July 27, the 25-year-old went to the Donaustadt clinic with her husband. "I was given an infusion in the outpatient clinic and x-rayed. Then they sent me home with painkillers and the advice to cool my leg," reports the desperate woman in an interview with "Krone".

The next day, the pain was worse and the family doctor suspected a thrombosis. This time, the ambulance took her to Landstrasse Hospital. In addition to the swelling, the leg was already showing discoloration. "This time they did an ultrasound and found that it wasn't a thrombosis." The unbelievable: Klara O. was sent home again.

25-year-old Klara O. lost her right thigh following a bacterial infection. Did the doctors react incorrectly beforehand?(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Eva Manhart, zVg)

Treatment: cool leg, elevate, rest
"Suspected torn muscle fiber", says the ambulance card. Treatment: "Rest, cool leg, elevate, apply compression bandage". She was sent home again with a prescription for paracetamol and the recommendation to consult an orthopaedist. "I couldn't walk, my leg was burning," she remembers.

The 25-year-old is deeply saddened: "It destroyed us."(Bild: Eva Manhart)

The next day, her leg showed massive discoloration and the ambulance was called again. "We can take you back to Landstrasse Hospital, but you'll probably be sent home again," the paramedic is said to have told her. But the patient no longer wanted to go there. "We signed that she wasn't going and thought about where we would take her ourselves," says her husband.

Two weeks of deep sleep, two months in hospital
But it didn't come to that, because shortly afterwards the young woman lost consciousness. The ambulance took her to the Donauspital, where she was operated on immediately. Apparently she had a severe case of blood poisoning caused by a flesh-eating bacterium - doctors at the AKH fought for the life of the mother of a one-year-old boy for two weeks. She survived. But on August 14, her thigh had to be amputated. The family suspects a connection with an insect bite.

As soon as I have the medical records, I will find out whether there was a misdiagnosis and whether my client suffered massive damage.

Rechtsanwalt Florian Höllwarth

Top lawyer takes on the tragic case
"A world has collapsed for me," says the woman, who is now being represented by lawyer Florian Höllwarth: "As soon as I have the medical records, it will become clear whether a misdiagnosis was made and whether my client was massively harmed."

"I'm very sad, I need help with everything. It has destroyed us," reports the patient about her two-month stay in hospital and eight operations. The former waitress's son has since been cared for by her mother. The prosthesis is due in two weeks' time. "Then I have to learn to walk again," she wipes tears from her face. 

The desperate family in conversation with the "Krone" newspaper(Bild: Eva Manhart)

In response to an inquiry from the "Krone" newspaper, the Vienna Health Association explains that it is currently unable to comment further on the matter in light of the ongoing legal clarification.