A model who contracted flesh-eating disease and had her leg amputated after a routine operation has launched a $2-million lawsuit against a Montreal hospital.
Three years ago, Racky Diack was admitted to the Montreal General Hospital to remove an abscess in her lower back.
It was supposed to be a routine surgery that would have her out of the hospital after five days.
But five days turned into five months, she says.
Soon after her operation, doctors say she contracted flesh-eating bacteria and they had to amputate her left leg.
Diack's lawyer Serge Dube says his client is suing Montreal General Hospital for negligence because doctors not make available a piece of equipment that is called VAC therapy.
The therapy, also known as vacuum-assisted closure therapy, is frequently used to treat wound infections.
Dube says Diack's medical record shows she had symptoms of flesh-eating disease days after removing her abscess.
"I read that during the period of three days, this VAC therapy was requested," he said. But Diack never underwent the therapy.
Dube argues that the therapy would have confined the infection, and perhaps prevented the amputation.
Diack says her whole world crumbled when her leg was amputated.
"I can't explain as a woman how it feels," she told CTV Montreal in French.
"At first it's the end of the world -- how are you going to have a future, a job or even personal relationships?"
Diack's modelling career began when she was discovered walking down the street in Paris.
Today, however, walking the runway is no longer an option for the woman who was once one of the many faces of Benetton.
"I cannot arrive in an agency with crutches like this," Diack says.
Her road to recovery is far from over, Diack says.
"For now, I'm just trying to heal the wounds inside," she says.
The Montreal General Hospital has declined comment on the lawsuit. It is expected to take several months before the case is heard before the court.
With a report from CTV Montreal's Daniele Hamamdjian
