14 years after giving birth to her son, a US mother discovered the unimaginable.
The pain she had been experiencing ever since childbirth wasn’t sciatica, as she was initially diagnosed, it was a piece of epidural needle lodged in her spine, which had been there for over a decade.
Amy Bright began experiencing severe back pain after the birth of her son Jacob in 2003, that has persisted ever since. She’s also suffered nerve damage which has made it increasingly difficult for her to move her left leg and foot, reports PEOPLE.
On finding out about the epidural needle, “I was absolutely livid and upset and scared,” Bright says.
“Every time I move and walk and bend and twist and sleep, that needle moves inside my spine. For 14 years, I’ve been creating scar tissue in my spine from this needle moving. I’m angry.”
Bright has filed an official complaint against the hospital, saying the staff knew the piece of the needle had broken off and remained in her body, but that they chose not to retrieve it.
“They knew this was in her, according to our experts, because so much of the needle was missing,” Bright’s attorney Sean Cronin tells PEOPLE.
Bright’s leg continues to worsen and she fears she will end up in a wheelchair – something Cronin says never would have happened had staff removed the needle immediately.
“I don’t know what my future holds. I’m very paranoid and scared,” Bright says. “The reflexes in my legs are affected already. I’m trying to make arrangements for [physical] therapy, I’ll probably be in that for the rest of my life. I’ll probably going to be on medication for the rest of my life.”
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