Nurse escapes jail time after amputating man’s foot without his consent

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A Wisconsin nurse, who cut off a man’s foot without his permission, was spared time behind bars after pleading no contest to negligently abusing a patient.

Mary K. Brown, of Pierce County, Wis., was accused of removing the foot of a 62-year-old patient at Spring Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center in Pierce County in 2022, and wanting to display it in her family’s taxidermy shop, according to court documents.

The man had been placed in the nursing home after his foot displayed symptoms of necrosis — dying tissue caused from prolonged frostbite, according to the Pierce County Journal.

The patient died days after the foot was removed, prompting the probe that led to Brown’s arrest.

The amputation was discovered when a medical examiner flagged an autopsy to authorities of the man after he found a foot had been removed from the body, noting “unusual circumstances of his death,” NBC News previously reported.

Co-workers of Brown told investigators they had witnessed the man’s foot was still attached to his body by several inches of tissue on the morning of May 27, 2022, before Brown fully amputated it that night.

Brown allegedly used scissors to cut a tendon, which amputated the foot, according to the criminal complaint, the outlet reported.

The foot was then put in a bag in a freezer, to be sent with him when he died.

It was later discovered that no physician ordered the amputation, nor did the patient give his consent to have his foot removed.

It is unknown if the amputation caused the man any pain as nurses’ accounts of the shocking incident varied.

One nurse recalled that the victim was holding her hand “extremely tight and was moaning a little bit” when the nurse cut the tendon, according to the complaint, while another staffer said, “when they cut his foot off he felt everything and it hurt very bad.”

Brown told police the man never showed signs of feeling the amputation and that she thought he would like it better if the foot were gone.

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Brown confessed that patient never asked her to remove his foot, and admitted that she should have called a doctor first or gotten a doctor’s order.

However, another nurse said during the amputation that Brown discussed how her family has a taxidermy shop and she said “she was going to preserve the foot and put it on display with a sign that said ‘Wear your boots kids,’” per the outlet, which cited the complaint.

As part of the no contest plea, Brown had two other charges dismissed — intentionally causing great bodily harm and mayhem, and physically abusing an elder person.

According to court documents, Brown was ordered to pay $443 in court costs and agreed to not practice as a registered nurse or as a licensed practical nurse in the state of Wisconsin.