Jonathan Buckelew was left suffering from locked-in syndrome after a basic chiropractor visit
Jonathan Buckelew was in his 20s when he suffered a life-threatening medical emergency after what was supposed to be a simple chiropractor visit.
Jonathan’s family claims he ‘lost every aspect of his life’ after Jonathan underwent a chiropractic neck adjustment.
Buckelew, now 34 years old, suddenly became dizzy, disoriented and unresponsive during his chiropractor appointment, per Atlanta News First.
Even though, when the accident occurred in 2015 he was rushed to the North Fulton Hospital in the US state of Georgia, doctors failed to diagnose what was going on with Jonathan at the time.
Due to Buckelew going undiagnosed for a day, this ended up leaving him with locked-in syndrome, meaning Jonathan is conscious but unable to move or communicate verbally, except for eye movements.
Lloyd Bell, Jonathan’s lawyer, claimed: “Jonathan was having a stroke when he came to the hospital, and they missed it. The people who were responsible for reading the radiographs misread it.
“The ER doctor saw this patient was having all these signs and symptoms of stroke and never called a stroke alert, and they had policies in place that they were supposed to follow certain protocols to reach the correct diagnosis, and they didn’t follow their policies and procedures.”
Jonathan’s family launched a series of legal proceedings against people involved, including the chiropractor, the hospital, Dr. Matthew Womack, radiologist James Waldschmidt, and the on-call neurologist Christopher Nickum.
Jonathan has been awarded $75 million in damages after a jury at Fulton County court ruled that Womack and Waldschmidt had been ‘grossly negligent’ when failing to diagnose Jonathan when he first came in.
The court also disclosed that Womack failed to tell Nickum that Jonathan had visited a chiropractor that day nor that Jonathan had experienced two seizure-like events.
According to Bell Jonathan’s paralysis and brain damage were completely avoidable.
“If the slew of healthcare providers involved in Jonathan’s care would have acted according to the standard of care, caught and treated his stroke earlier, and communicated more effectively, Jonathan’s life would look entirely different,” the lawyer claimed.
Understandably, Jonathan’s family says the compensation doesn’t equate to the life he has lost.
“I really feel like there’s no real justice for somebody who lost every aspect of his life,” Jonathan’s father said, per ANF.
“We’re just focusing on what can we do now; how can we keep him as happy as possible; and how can we give him the best life possible.”
Jonathan’s mum and dad now care for their son around the clock alongside a team of nurses.
