12-Year-Old Girl Gets Leg Amputated After Hospital Made Her Wait For 10 Hours

A hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, allegedly made a 12-year-old girl wait 10 hours for surgery, which resulted in doctors having to amputate one of her legs.

The family of the girl, Meiah Tafoya, has filed a lawsuit against Albuquerque's Presbyterian Hospital in connection with the incident, the Independent reported.

The girl's mother, Stephanie Sedillo, said her daughter fell and hurt her leg while she was at school on Oct. 14, 2022.

"I get a call from the school, saying there was an incident, and rescue was on the way, and that's all they told me, so I rushed to the school," Sedillo told the Albuquerque-based news channel KRQUE.

The child was immediately taken to Presbyterian Hospital for treatment. Sedillo said her daughter got triage and an X-ray on her left leg, but she then had to wait for 10 hours before being examined again.

The mother said she urged hospital staff several times to take a look at her daughter's leg, which was reportedly getting cold.

"The guy finally said that, he started panicking because he realized that her leg was cold, and she was screaming so crazy that, he's like, 'we gotta get her transported to UNM [University of New Mexico]'," Sedillo added.

At the University of New Mexico Hospital, doctors said the girl's left leg would have to be amputated.

According to the 12-year-old's family, she had to subsequently undergo four more surgeries and spent over three months recovering in a hospital.

"It's been hell, it's been hard," said Sedillo.

The family filed a suit against Presbyterian Hospital, alleging its employees acted "unreasonably" and did not provide timely treatment.

The girl said she is trying to adjust to her new life. "It's a little easy, a little hard. I'm going to get through it though," Meiah said.

Todd Bullion, who represents the Sedillo family, said, "We're gonna find out exactly why this happened and hopefully prevent something like this from happening to anyone else ever again."

Meanwhile, court documents revealed that the hospital said it does not have enough information about the allegations.

The hospital said that "all allegations of the complaint" are "not expressly admitted or denied."

"Presbyterian was recently served with the complaint, and we will reserve comment on pending litigation for the appropriate venue," the hospital said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Sedillo to help with the treatment expenses of her daughter. As of this writing, it has gathered a little more than $10,000 out of a $20,000 donation goal.