4-year old Jesse Matlock went in to have surgery on his wandering right eye, but doctors operated on his left eye, then realized their mistake and immediately operated on the right eye without consulting with his parents, according to a KATU-TV report. Tasha Gaul, mother, said that now the left eye seems to be wandering while no improvement is detectable in the right eye.
The mother, in an interview with ABC news, said that they are still in the dark about what his eyes will be like in the future.
The boy’s parents said the surgeon admitted to the mistake after the operation in Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Portland, Oregon, last Wednesday.
In an interview with KATU-TV, Tasha Gaul said:
“My husband and I were in awe, we were like ‘Can you repeat that again?’ The surgeon said, ‘Frankly, I lost sense of direction, and didn’t realize I had operated on the wrong eye until I was done operating on the eye.'”
Father, Dale Matlock, said in a TV interview that something went seriously wrong with the checklist. The eye that was to be operated on was circled, and then the surgeon proceeded with the wrong eye.
In an ABC interview, Gall said:
“No parent, no child, nobody should have to live through the torture of that day.”
The boy, from Vancouver, had been visiting a doctor in Oregon every months since he showed signs of a wandering right eye.
The parents said the doctor had explained to them that a surgical procedure would weaken the muscle at the bottom of Jesse’s right eye, correcting the problem. At 11 am, when the operation should have been over, a nurse came out and told them they were operating on both eyes, and vanished before they could ask any questions.
Sources: ABC news, KATU-TV, Fox News
Written by Christian Nordqvist