Sponsored by
Smash victim is still waiting for crucial op
MCHG 12-760 Dean Chatfield of Adeyfield, Hemel Hempstead, who has had his hospital surgery cancelled three times.
An operation to repair a motorbike rider’s broken femur after it failed to heal properly following a road accident last year has now been cancelled three times.
Dean Chatfield, who has to use crutches to get about and cannot put weight on his right leg, says he is in constant pain.
It means the 34-year-old senior warehouse clerk, who was hit by a lorry in August 2011, finds it difficult to venture out of his third floor flat.
He said: “I asked to be moved by the council and they said I haven’t got enough points and my injuries are not permanent.”
Dean’s mum Mary has had to move into his Everest Way home in Hemel Hempstead to look after him following the accident.
The ldriver of the lorry that hit Dean on the M10 in the early hours of the morning never stopped and has not been traced by police.
Dean, who was on his way home from work, suffered a broken pelvis in four places, a broken hip, a broken femur in four places, a shattered right knee cap, two breaks in one of his ankles, a fractured left knee cap and three cracks in his coccyx.
An operation to repair his femur was booked for August 10, but doctors rescheduled it for August 13, it was then moved to September 12, which was also cancelled.
Dean was told the surgery was postponed because a specialist operating table was not available.
He said: “I’m disgusted. I’m upset, I’m in so much pain.”
Dacorum Borough Council’s group manager for strategic housing, Julia Hedger, said: “The council will always assess cases on their own merits and in situations where there are difficult circumstances like this, a home visit can be arranged with a housing officer to further assess the application.”
West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman Paul Gough said: “The Trust is fully aware of this patient’s case and deeply regrets the distress we have caused.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Hemel Hempstead
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 29 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
