A man has been awarded one of the largest jury verdicts in a Minnesota medical malpractice case. While this case didn’t take place in Connecticut, it shows how someone going to the hospital for something as minor as flu-like symptoms ended in paralysis.

The 51-year-old man, who owned a mechanic’s shop, went to a hospital for flu-like symptoms in 2012. He received fluids until doctors found that he had a perforated bowel and surgery was scheduled.

According to the man’s attorney, the fluids were stopped about an hour before surgery when an anesthesiologist started anesthesia. The man’s blood pressure dropped, thereby causing inadequate blood flow to the man’s spinal cord. Paralysis was the result.

The group that provides the hospital with anesthesia services denied that the man’s paralysis was caused by the anesthesiologist’s error.

The man hopes to get a new wheelchair and restart his therapy. He wants to get back into the ABLE program at the Courage Center. That program helped him get to where he could use a walker to walk for a short distance. The insurance and grant funding for that program ran out, though. He turned to swimming and an Airdyne bike on a wall in his home for exercise.

If you or someone you love are injured because of a doctor’s error, you have a right to seek compensation. Damages might include those for pain and suffering, medical expenses, long-term medical care, lost wages and more. There are statutes of limitations, though, that limit the time you have to file. An attorney experienced in medical malpractice can give you more information on how to proceed.

Source: StarTribune, “Paralyzed Minnesota mechanic awarded $9.1M in malpractice verdict,” Jeremy Olson, Oct. 17, 2015