Spinal injuries expert awarded £2m compo after he was left paralysed when doctors ignored his requests not to have an epidural during routine op
He had asked staff not to use the injection but medics decided it was necessary
A SPINAL injuries expert left paralysed when medics ignored his warnings about having an epidural during a hip operation has been handed a £2million NHS pay-out.
Stephen Onley, 56, suffered complications after he was given the pain relief - which is injected near the spinal cord - during routine hip resurfacing surgery.
He told medics not to use the injection because he was aware of the risk of spinal injury after working with disabled people for more than 30 years.
But they decided it was necessary and administered the epidural while the granddad-of-three was under general anaesthetic.
Bungling doctors then failed to monitor NHS social worker Mr Onley properly and over the next 24 hours his blood pressure fell dangerously low.
That resulted in a lack of blood to his spinal cord and has left him becoming paralysed from his waist down.
Shockingly, the irreparable damage wasn't spotted until nearly two days later when an MRI scan confirmed he would never be able to walk again.
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Mr Onley, from Bromsgrove, Worcs., has now been wheelchair-bound and completely reliant on around-the-clock care from his wife Carol, 59.
He has been awarded a £2million settlement by the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham where the operation took place on December 6, 2010.
Stephen said the money will go towards making his home adaptable to his needs.
He added: "I had spent more than 35 years caring for people with spinal injuries and so I was only too aware that epidurals carry a small risk of paralysis.
"I had made up my mind not to have an epidural under any circumstances but was told that it was recommended.
"As a result of the mistakes the hospital made through not monitoring my blood pressure, I will never walk again.
"I am now completely reliant upon my wife who has to care for me round the clock.
"Carol has been fantastic and I don't know how I would have coped without her."
Speaking today he added: "No money can replace the loss of your legs, loss of your work, loss of your relationship you had with your partner, loss of ability to be with your children and grandson.
"What it can do is make life easier after the event.
"If you allow anger to eat you up it's self-destructive. So I've had to learn to forgive."
Lindsay Tomlinson, a partner and specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham office, representing Stephen, said: “Stephen and Caroline were understandably devastated by what happened and it has been life-changing for them both. Stephen was fit and active before the hip surgery and assumed that a few weeks after the operation he would be recovering and back at work.
“Sadly mistakes were made which where wholly avoidable and Stephen will now need daily care and support for the rest of his life.”
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