An Ohio Army veteran has filed a lawsuit after waking from surgery to discover surgeons had amputated the wrong leg.
Sharon Jacks, 74, of Ohio, entered Selby General Hospital in September 2025 facing a difficult but planned procedure: the amputation of her right leg below the knee to treat squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. Medical records show the surgical schedule explicitly identified a “right below-knee amputation,” and her attorney says the correct leg was marked prior to the operation.
“It wasn’t easy in and of itself to do that, and prior to the surgery, from what I can determine, everything was checked off as to the correct leg. It was marked the correct leg. Everything seemed to be in order,” Brad Layne, the Jacks family attorney, told WBNS.
Layne stated that Jacks went into surgery and “when she woke up, the wrong leg had been taken off.”
“It defies explanation, obviously,” he added.
The lawsuit names the surgeon who performed the operation, the hospital, and other surgical team members, accusing them of “a complete failure of basic safety procedures.” The suit claims that despite the right leg being marked and multiple opportunities to catch the error, the team never realized they were operating on the left leg instead.
In a press release, Layne wrote: “Despite several opportunities to identify the mistake and stop the procedure, the surgical team somehow never noticed they were operating on the wrong leg.”
The consequences have reshaped daily life for the entire family. Jacks’ husband, Dannie Jacks, has been forced to quit his job to care for her full-time, as she “couldn’t be left home as a double amputee.”
“Every day is a struggle. She has to transport herself from a board to a wheelchair just to get to the bathroom or to get into the bed or to change clothes or to go anywhere,” Layne said.
Selby General Hospital has acknowledged that an “adverse surgical event” occurred in September 2025. In a statement, the hospital said the surgical team “responded immediately to address the medical needs of the patient involved and provide support to their family.”
The hospital’s statement continued: “Our proactive review of what took place confirmed this was an avoidable event, and that our expected operating room procedures were not followed. Those involved were held accountable for their actions and are no longer in their positions.”
The statement concluded: “We are saddened by what occurred, and our team continues to keep this patient and their family in our prayers.”
Jacks had initially been admitted to the hospital due to a chronic venous stasis ulcer, a wound caused by vein and blood flow issues that heal slowly and often appear on the legs near the ankle, according to the Cleveland Clinic. After evaluation, the below-knee amputation of her right leg was recommended as part of her cancer treatment.
“Now every day for the rest of her life, Sharon Jacks must live with the consequences of those failures,” Layne wrote in his press release.
The lawsuit remains pending as Jacks continues to adapt to life as a double amputee.