Hospital still silent on$24 million judgment
Against tremendous odds, Reginald Harris has grown into your typical 16-year-old child.
It's been almost two years since the outstanding football player lost his leg, after alleged improper medical treatment by Sumter Regional Hospital after falling and injuring his leg.
Since then, Harris has been through several medical appointments, phantom pains, dozens of leg massages by his mother, building leg muscles and has gone through a few prosthetic legs. His mother Sherry Thomas called her son a fighter. "I told him, 'don't let this change you,'" said Thomas. "Keep your head above the water."
On July, 18 of 2005, Harris and a friend were walking home from football practice at a summer camp when a dog started to chase them. Harris tripped over a hill, breaking his leg and cutting into a major artery, his attorney said. Harris went to the hospital, but his attorney said he didn't get the proper tests and treatment he needed until several hours later, while repeatedly complaining that he couldn't feel or move his toes.
Harris later had surgery at Sumter Regional hospital. Sometime afterward, his leg was amputated above the knee at Phoebe Putney Hospital. "It was a big shock, it was almost like dealing with death," Thomas said. Since then, he has had to deal with the unexpected lost of a leg. "He tends to not let anything keep him back," said his mom of the Americus Sumter High student and band member. Thomas said while her son still loves sports, "obviously he is somewhat limited." But she added she feels the band and music will offer another outlet for his dreams. "He's going to do something in music, he loves to sing," she said. "Sometimes you have to take the bad and work out the good in it."
Although it's been two years since the amputation, Harris still copes with phantom pains. Harris said sometimes he feels as if the leg still hurts, and his mother sometimes massages his leg for him. But also with the help of his mother and attorney, Harris was recently awarded a $24-million civil suit. His family alleged that negligence caused the amputation of the then 14-yearold's leg.
Thomas said she thought it was important to "hold the hospital accountable." "I know his future will be secured."
The amputation has also brought Harris unwanted attention. Harris said her son, a Power of Faith Deliverance Church member, has tried to avoid the attention. Mother and son both have had to deal with the heightened attention also. "A lot of people are now wondering "who is this lady,'" said Thomas. "I'm someone who cares about her son." Unsuccessful attempts were made to David Seagraves for a response to the $24 million malpractice judgment was but he declined to comment.
