A Sydney woman has been left catastrophically injured after being mistakenly injected with toxic antiseptic while giving birth to her first child.
Grace Wang, 32, was meant to receive anaesthetic during a routine epidural at St George Hospital in southern Sydney but instead had the highly poisonous antiseptic injected into her spine, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Ms Wang is now unable to walk, sit, hold her baby or even breastfeed two months after the injection of eight millilitres of chlorhexidine poisoned her nervous system.
Her husband Jason Zheng is now beginning legal action after the mistake, saying his wife is suffering every day and “wants to give up”.
“She was crying last night when she touched her son,” he said.
“I just want to change my body to hers.”
Ms Wang’s health has reportedly been deteriorating in recent weeks, with new symptoms continuing to emerge.
NSW Health minister Carmel Tebbutt has ordered internal and external investigations to discover how the incident could have happened. “This is an extremely distressing case and I offer my sincere apologies,” she said.
Two-month-old Alexander has shown no signs of being affected by the injection.