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Michele Price, 47, was left in a coma after routine surgery to investigate pelvic pain went horribly wrong
A woman admitted to hospital for keyhole surgery was left fighting for life after doctors accidentally tore her bowel.
Michele Price was admitted to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham to have her pelvic pain investigated.
The 47-year-old went home the same day but was rushed back to hospital early the next morning, suffering from severe abdominal pain and vomiting.
A CT scan performed two days later revealed her bowel had been sliced open and fluid was leaking into the rest of her body.
Further exploratory surgery then confirmed she had two holes in her bowel.
Doctors removed a section of her intestines and flushed out as much as the infection as they could.
But they were forced to leave her stomach open for two days in an attempt to avoid Ms Price needing a stoma bag fitted.
The mother-of-two then required further surgery two days later to re-attach her bowel and have her stomach sewn up.
But medics were forced to leave her in an induced coma for five days to help fight the infection which had caused her organs fail.
Ms Price was eventually discharged from hospital two weeks later - but has been left with horrific scars all down her stomach.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has now apologised and Mrs Price's solictors have secured an admission of liability from the Trust and Secretary of State for Health, paving the way for a settlement to be reached.
Ms Price, who lives in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, with her fiance Stephen Harcourt, 47, and daughter Leah Price, 14, said: 'My life has been turned upside down following my horrific ordeal.
'My original surgery was keyhole surgery which is designed to be minimally invasive and leave little, to no, scarring.
'It was meant to be a routine procedure I went into hospital for, but instead I was left fighting for my life.
'The scarring on my stomach is horrendous and I am incredibly self-conscious of it.
'I feel truly let down by staff as I suffered so many needless complications and my life has been devastated as a result.'
After being discharged from hospital, Ms Price's hair fell out because stress and amount of medication she was on.
Ms Price with fiance Stephen and daughter Leah. She says the trauma of the botched surgery made her hair fall out and forced her to give up work
'It was coming out in clumps, it was really a mess and looked like a patchwork quilt - so in the end, I shaved it off and was forced to buy wigs.'
Ms Price was also forced to close down her cleaning business after her ordeal. She added: 'I am pleased that with the help of my legal team that the Trust has finally made an admission of liability for what happened to me.
'I just hope that this paves the way to the conclusion of the legal proceedings so that I can try to start to put my life back together.'
Medical law experts at Irwin Mitchell found a host of errors had been made during the surgery on August 9, 2011, which had led to the bowel perforating.It is claimed that staff failed to appreciate that a perforation was the likely cause of Ms Prices's symptoms - and did not perform an immediate CT scan on her readmission the next day.
Following the initial keyhold procedure, she was also treated by junior doctors who failed to detect peritonitis, multi-organ failure, abscesses, scarring and an incisional hernia.
Tests carried out when Ms Price was severely ill after surgery revealed her bowel had been sliced open and fluid was leaking into the rest of her body. She has been left with scars all down her stomach
Sarah Rowland, a specialist medical lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: 'Michele suffered a truly horrendous ordeal in hospital following what should have been a simple and routine procedure with minimal recovery time.
'Instead she was left fighting for her life and needing further operations that have left her with extensive scarring - a permanent reminder of the horrific ordeal she has been through.'
Dr Stephen Fowlie, Medical Director at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: 'We reiterate our apologies to Ms Price and her family for the shortcomings in our care in 2011.
'Although Ms Price was reviewed by specialist registrars or consultants on each of the three days between her initial and second operation, we accepted our external expert’s view that senior review should have been more frequent. This lesson was shared with all staff in the department.
'Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has done considerable work in the last two years to improve recognition of deterioration in patients, and to speed-up escalation to senior doctors when it does occur.'
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