Stacey Galette is a 30-year-old Brooklyn mother who finds it painful and difficult to walk these days.
Both her legs have been amputated below the knee, and she now uses prosthetics to get around.
And in a lawsuit filed Thursday, Galette is blaming her condition on malpractice by doctors at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola.
According to the lawsuit, Galette underwent a gynecological operation at Winthrop in October 2009. But the suit claims that shortly after the procedure, Stacy was in a coma for three weeks.
Her lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, claims "they punctured her intestine, causing an infection and blood poisoning, and gangrene set in... resulting in below-the-knee amputations in both legs.".
Now, Galette says she worries about trying to raise her 10-year-old daughter.
At her lawyer's office, Stacy told us, "I'm not able to take care of my daughter, get her ready for school [or] take her to the bus stop like I used to."
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Galette recalled coming out of the coma last year and said, "When I woke up, I was in ICU and I asked my family what I was doing here. They told me about my foot [which] got amputated. I was hurt."
Although she used to live on Long Island, Stacy now lives with her godmother, who helps take care of Stacy's child. Rubenstein -- who is seeking unspecified damages -- described her ordeal as "horrifying."
"She'll spend the rest of her life with below-the-knee double amputations for the rest of her life because of medical malpractice," said Rubenstein.
When asked about the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Winthrop University Hospital said he could not comment on pending litigation.
