UPPER FRUITLAND, NM – A New Mexico baby already facing countless medical challenges is set back even further because of the actions of a nurse, and that baby's mother is very upset.
"I don't think that should have even happened," said Erica Hogue.
Her twin baby boys, Davante and Delante, have already been through so much in their short life. They came into this world though an emergency cesarean section at UNM Hospital at just 29 weeks. The boys are now 8 months old. Delante is now home with his mother, but his brother still hasn't made it.
Davante is still in the hospital.
"They told us they could let him go because he got a stage-2 brain bleed," said Hogue.
Hogue said the hospital told them that due to the brain bleed, he may never walk, talk, see or hear. Continuous intubation, a tracheotomy, and g-tube surgery that caused more damage and a hole in the little one's heart were just some of the medical struggles. Then in December, the unthinkable happened.
"He had an IV placed in his foot and the nurse that was taking care of him was cutting away the tape and cut off his toe," said Hogue.
"The orthopedic surgeon came up and stitched all the way around his toe placed him in a leg cast," she said.
Circulation could not be returned and the toe was lost. The incident has left Hogue wondering why. "It just makes me angry that something like this could happen," she said.
She said that the hospital investigated the incident.
"The only thing that they could do is use a different tape," Hogue said.
She also said that the hospital has since apologized.
"For me, that is just not enough. I believe that my baby is worth so much more than that," she said.
UNM Hospital told KOB 4 that they can't comment on a specific patient matter, but Hogue said that she and her husband are considering legal action. That may be further down the line though.
"Our priority is getting our son home where he belongs," Hogue said.