An Ohio woman is suing a hospital that she says amputated the incorrect leg, leaving her as a double amputee.
Sharon Jacks, 74, an Army veteran, went to Selby General Hospital in Marietta, Ohio, in September 2025 to have her right leg amputated as part of her treatment for skin cancer, specifically squamous cell carcinoma, according to NBC News.
Ms. Jacks chose to have the elective procedure due to a chronic ulcer that had developed in her right leg, according to WLWT-TV. Instead, she says in the suit, staff at the hospital amputated her left leg, which left her as a double amputee once she got the correct leg removed.
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Her right leg was removed four months after the left leg, Brad Layne, an attorney for Ms. Jacks, said in a statement, according to the New York Times.
Mr. Layne told WBNS-TV that “the surgeon actually marked the correct leg pre-surgery. The mark was still on the correct leg after the wrong leg had been taken off.”
The lawyer said that “wrong limb amputation should never happen. There is simply no excuse. … the surgical team somehow never noticed they were operating on the wrong leg.”
Selby General Hospital called the incident “an adverse surgical event” and said that “our expected operating room procedures were not followed. Those involved were held accountable for their actions and are no longer in their positions.”
Ms. Jacks is currently cancer-free and has been since her right leg was amputated, Mr. Layne said.
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