A Nova Scotia truck driver who had to have his foot amputated due to necrotizing fasciitis is suing a Winnipeg doctor for negligence, claiming the Seven Oaks General Hospital emergency room doctor failed to properly treat him.

Christopher Miners, 54, was diagnosed with the disease and had his foot amputated in Nova Scotia, but he claims it could have been prevented if he had received better care in Winnipeg, where he stopped at Seven Oaks hospital during a cross-country drive in 2022.

He claims that the negligence of a doctor at a Winnipeg hospital led to the loss of his right foot and that, among other things, he can no longer work as a long-distance truck driver.

Miners is suing for an unspecified amount, seeking damages for loss of income, care costs and loss of ability to run a household. He is also seeking compensation for the woman who has cared for him since he lost his foot.

The miners had already been sick for three days when he stopped in Winnipeg on the afternoon of July 16, 2022, and called 911, according to his statement of claim filed March 13 in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench.

The truck driver was on his way home to Elmsdale, New Jersey, north of Halifax, with his semi-trailer, but suffered from “increasing nausea, persistent vomiting and diarrhea” as well as weakness over the course of three days, the court document states.

He was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Seven Oaks General Hospital.

Miners, who has type 2 diabetes, also had a swollen right foot where a small wound had improved after a course of antibiotics several weeks earlier. Redness radiated from that injury and extended up his right leg, he says in the lawsuit.

In the emergency room waiting room he vomited bile.

The hospital ordered a blood test and found that Miners had an elevated white blood cell count.

He was given medication for his nausea and the bandage on his right foot was changed.

Shortly after 11 p.m., about 6.5 hours after he arrived at the hospital, the doctor discharged him with a diagnosis of gastroenteritis, colloquially known as stomach flu, the lawsuit states.

Drove home to NS

If the miner experienced acute pain, fever or vomiting, he was told to come back, and if he felt sick on the way home, he was given medication to treat his symptoms, the lawsuit says.

When the miners arrived in Halifax, his foot was swollen and when he sought medical treatment he was referred to the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital.

There he was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis and his right foot was amputated.

The lawsuit lists several steps the Winnipeg doctor should have taken to avoid that outcome, including recognizing signs and symptoms of infection and monitoring Miners in hospital. It also says the doctor failed to administer antibiotics.

The doctor has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, which operates Seven Oaks General Hospital, said it would not comment on the case because the lawsuit is currently before the courts. The health authority was also asked to forward the request for comment to the doctor.

Miners said Monday he could not comment on the case without permission from his attorney.