A FATHER who suffered a bone-deep gash to his leg, while being dragged across a field by a runaway horse, was left facing an anxious wait for surgery.

Jason Grobbelaar, a self-employed mobile mechanic, ended up having to spend a night at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary due to the high demand on the hospital’s theatres.

The 37-year-old, of Kents Bank, traveled to the RLI after sustaining an injury too serious for treatment at Kendal’s Westmorland General Hospital.

It was 10.30am on September 1 when Mr Grobbelaar was hurt trying to stop a horse escaping from one of his mother-in-law’s fields. As well as ending up with a bruised shoulder and lower back, he was told he would need to have dead tissue removed from, and internal and external stitches for, a wound caused by his being dragged over a metal water trough.

He spent the day without food and drink waiting for surgery which, due to its short nature but the necessity for general anaesthetic, would be slotted between major operations.

Mr Grobberlaar’s wife Sarah, 33, said: “It was the lady who came round serving dinner who eventually told us he wasn’t going to have it. When he told her he wasn’t allowed to eat she said the theatre shut at five, and that he wouldn’t be done that day.

“Jason asked if he could go home and return the next morning but they said, because it was an open wound , it wasn’t a good idea. They said, ‘If you go home, you‘ll lose your place one the list, you’re better off where you are’.”

The following day, Mr Grobbelaar faced a similar wait with, his wife said, little information about what was happening.

Eventually he was prepared for theatre at 3.30pm, but another major case took precedence.

Mrs Grobbelaar contacted the Evening Mail just before 4pm, fearing her husband was set to spend another night away from her and his two sons aged two years and seven months. 

In a happy turn of events, he was finally taken into theatre at around 5.20pm.

Sue Smith, executive chief nurse of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are currently experiencing a high number of trauma patients coming into our hospitals that require emergency or urgent operations.

“Whilst we understand that this can be disappointing for patients that are waiting to go to theatre for a planned operation, we do have to prioritise those patients that need immediate surgical treatment.

“We accept that we did not communicate well and have apologised directly to Mr Grobblear. We have also shared his concerns with the teams involved so we can learn any lessons that may further improve the experience for our patients.”