£135,000 pay-out for man who was left sterile after post-surgery infection

Published on Tuesday 17 February 2009 20:57

A MAN who developed a flesh-eating disease and was left sterile after a botched operation was awarded £134,007 damages yesterday.

John McEwan, 45, and his wife have a daughter but their hopes of a bigger family were shattered when he underwent surgery for a stomach complaint.

A judge ruled that the surgeon had been negligent and Mr McEwan, a former amateur international footballer, was struck by a form of necrotising fasciitis to his abdomen and genital area. Lord Matthews said Mr McEwan had been left with only a thin layer of skin to protect his abdomen, and had to take great care even when playing with his daughter, Caitlyn, ten.

"His family was a big part of his life and the inability to provide a sibling for Caitlyn was a big regret," said the judge.

Mr McEwan, a manufacturing engineer, of East, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, sued Ayrshire and Arran Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, alleging negligence by David Kingsmore, then a specialist registrar in the third year of his higher surgical training. He claimed the surgeon failed to assess "dead" bowel tissue.

Lord Matthews decided Mr Kingsmore had been negligent, and that Mr McEwan was entitled to an award of damages.