{"id":639057,"date":"2026-10-07T12:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/639057\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T12:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:06:15","slug":"rebuilding-life-after-spinal-infection-misdiagnosis-simons-story-video-professional-negligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/639057\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebuilding Life After Spinal Infection Misdiagnosis: Simon\u2019s Story (Video) – Professional Negligence"},"content":{"rendered":"

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AG<\/p>\n

Anthony Gold Solicitors LLP <\/p>\n

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More<\/p>\n


\n \"Anthony
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\nAnthony Gold Solicitors are a leading Law firm based in London. Our solicitors specialise in various areas of law and are experts in their fields of legal services. We are negotiators and litigators, committed to doing whatever is best for our clients. <\/p>\n


\n When Simon Small developed severe back pain over Easter weekend, multiple medical professionals dismissed it as muscular strain. By the time a spinal abscess was finally diagnosed… \n <\/p>\n


\n United Kingdom
\n Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration \n <\/p>\n

\n To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com.\n <\/p>\n

Video Transcript: Simon\u2019s Story
\nFrom new job to spinal injury<\/p>\n

Simon Small, client<\/p>\n

I worked in the food industry. I was a technical manager in charge of quality and legality. I\u2019d just got myself a new job three months previously. Everything was looking rosy and positive, and on the up.<\/p>\n

I took a slightly longer Easter break. I felt oddly lethargic, and I just thought it was physical tiredness, possibly mental tiredness, because of starting a new job. I went to the doctor that afternoon and explained what had happened so far. She deemed it to be muscular, as I\u2019d thought it was. I was told everything would be fine, that I should get better over the weekend. My biggest concern was whether I\u2019d be ready to go back on Monday.<\/p>\n

The pain got progressively worse, to the point where I was almost screaming by the Saturday night. So on Sunday I phoned 111, and they made an appointment for me at the local community hospital. He too felt it was just very severe muscular pain, gave me some more medication and told me to see my regular GP the following day, on the Monday. He said I\u2019d probably torn something quite badly, but it would start to pick itself up once the medication kicked in. I had no reason to think it was anything else.<\/p>\n

I went home that night. I felt delirious, I felt disconnected. I didn\u2019t feel I was in myself. I went to bed early, and when I woke up the next morning I couldn\u2019t move my legs. They were completely paralysed, and I\u2019d lost control of my bladder.<\/p>\n

I spent eight weeks in general hospital as an inpatient. They operated on me several times. They explained that I\u2019d had an abscess in the vertebrae in my neck, caused by staph aureus. As it had grown, the pus from the abscess had put pressure on my spinal cord, and that pain I\u2019d felt, from the very original nub to the napalm-like feel, was that pressure on my spinal cord killing off the nerves.<\/p>\n

A delay in diagnosis<\/p>\n

Dr James Piers, clinical negligence partner, Anthony Gold Solicitors<\/p>\n

Simon was a client of mine. I helped him with a case based around a delay in diagnosis of a spinal infection, a spinal epidural abscess, which sadly, as a result of that delay, has left him with some permanent spinal injuries, injuries which otherwise probably ought to have led to a full, or more or less full, recovery.<\/p>\n

Clients will often have approached lawyers with an inkling that something\u2019s not right. Looking at that in greater detail, ultimately, that means the client feels a professional has let them down in some way.<\/p>\n

Coming to terms with the diagnosis<\/p>\n

Simon Small, client<\/p>\n

The finality of my situation really hadn\u2019t landed at all. And I suddenly looked at it, and sitting in that, it all came out. It all came out, how serious and how bad things were, and I just crumbled.<\/p>\n

My condition doesn\u2019t necessarily prevent me doing something, but if I do, and it puts strain or stress on my muscles, on my body, I\u2019ll be virtually immobile for two to three days afterwards. It doesn\u2019t really make me a very employable proposition. So I feel slightly robbed of that opportunity. I didn\u2019t quite realise how much, subconsciously, I was on pause until the last few months, so I\u2019m looking forward to making up for lost time.<\/p>\n

Anthony Gold have given me hope, they\u2019ve given me support, and they\u2019ve given me as good a life back as I could possibly hope for.<\/p>\n

Rebuilding a life<\/p>\n

Dr James Piers, clinical negligence partner, Anthony Gold Solicitors<\/p>\n

The case was difficult, but what\u2019s fantastic to see now is sitting in Simon\u2019s home and seeing that all those uncertainties and worries have gone. I saw a client in Simon who, to me, frankly, was struggling more and more the longer I knew him, because it was getting harder. It would be nice to see how things work out for him in the longer term, but it\u2019s fantastic to see already that he\u2019s in a much better place than he was.<\/p>\n

Simon Small, client<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been able to enjoy every day when I get up, just getting back to living life. I feel really hopeful.<\/p>\n

Dr James Piers, clinical negligence partner, Anthony Gold Solicitors<\/p>\n

What I do is fascinating work that\u2019s incredibly rewarding. It\u2019s a huge responsibility, and again, it might sound clich\u00e9, but it\u2019s a great privilege to be able to act for clients like Simon.<\/p>\n

Simon Small, client<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t, for the first time in as long as I can remember, got anything to worry about.<\/p>\n

Interviewer<\/p>\n

Is that a good feeling then?<\/p>\n

Simon Small, client<\/p>\n

You have no idea. You have no idea. I couldn\u2019t explain it.<\/p>\n

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.<\/p>\n

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