Hospital plasters little girl's wrong arm

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.

Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.

Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond

Eric Garcia

Washington Bureau Chief

Find out more

A hospital apologised today and launched an investigation after medical staff plastered the wrong arm of a two-year-old girl.

Honey Wight was taken to the accident and emergency department of Southampton General Hospital on Wednesday by mother Katie after she jumped off a slide and hurt her left arm.

Medics X-rayed the arm and found the youngster had chipped a bone. Nurses then plastered the right arm and sent the family home.

Ms Wight, 29, said she did not notice the mistake until the next day because her daughter fell asleep in the car and she put her straight to bed.

"I was so angry. I just couldn't believe it," she told the Southern Daily Echo.

"The nurse was there and it said 'left elbow' but she put it on the right arm. It is just crazy.

"I did not even notice. I was busy singing songs to her, trying to distract her."

The mother said that staff even plastered the correct left arm of Honey's teddy bear to help calm her nerves.

She took her daughter to the hospital yesterday, where the mistake was corrected.

Dr Michael Marsh, the hospital's medical director, said: "We are deeply sorry to Honey and her family. Incidents like this are extremely rare and we will be carrying out a full investigation into how it happened."