The Herald recently reported how the public health system failed 58-year-old Johanna Barkhuizen. About a month ago she decided to go public with her gruesome story.
After months of agonising pain, she explained, her foot got so bad that the tissue in two of her toes started dying and it needed to be amputated. On Monday 5 October Barkhuizen was referred to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital where half her foot was amputated.
It all started when she discovered a sore on her foot that gradually got worse. She said she visited a local municipal clinic and Leratong Hospital and at both facilities she was given ointment and bandages only. The last time she went to the clinic they allegedly told her she is a diabetic and this caused her foot not to heal. She then got gangrene in her foot and her condition worsened.
Barkhuizen also has cervical cancer and a vascular disease. During those difficult few months she tried to apply for a social grant, but she was shown the door. Barkhuizen has a son who is challenged mentally and physically.
At Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital they diagnosed my condition as arteriosclerosis – a disease caused by fatty deposits on the inner walls of the arteries,” Barkhuizen said.
In theatre she was given an epidural anaesthetic and was conscious during the surgery. The procedure took about two hours and pain set in about two hours later.
Barkhuizen added she has less pain since the amputation but now has inflammation in the lower leg from which the foot was amputated. She said they did not remove the entire foot as they first wanted to see if the gangrene has spread. A skin graft still needs to be done.
I can see some black discolouration on what is left of my foot. Since my toes have been amputated I find it difficult to walk.”
Barkhuizen does not experience phantom limb syndrome, that is experiencing sensations as if her foot had not been amputated. Barkhuizen also received anti-depressants as this type of loss has a tremendous impact on one’s emotional state.
She said, “I blame this emotional and physical pain on the clinic and Leratong Hospital. I have lost my foot because of their negligence.”
The Herald did contact Leratong Hospital for comment, but they said she was not on their database. However, Barkhuizen showed the Herald her patient card and number as proof that she had been there.
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Also read:
Negligence at state facilities costs woman her foot
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