Docs attach woman's colon to her vagina in botched cancer surgery

Jasminka Velkovska is speaking out about the botched procedure to put pressure on the Macedonia hospital, which promised her more than $33,000 as compensation for a botched surgery that involved tying her genitals to her colon. (Central European News)

A woman who underwent surgery to remove skin cancer left the hospital with a very different result: Doctors mistakenly attached her colon to her vagina, causing her to relieve gas from her genitals. Central European News (CEN) reported that three years after the error occurred, Jasminka Velkovska is speaking out about the botched procedure to put pressure on the Macedonia hospital, which promised her more than $33,000 as compensation for the error. Velkovska is reportedly still waiting to receive about one-third of that payment.

"While I was recovering, doctors came and asked me if I was passing gas, and I said, ‘Yes, but it’s coming out of my vagina,’” Velkovska told media in Macedonia, according to CEN. "They told me that it would soon pass and I would be OK, but stuff had started to come out of my vagina, and I was feeling scared, and it was all very unpleasant."

Velkovska reportedly discovered the mistake after receiving an X-ray that not only showed her vagina and colon had been tied together, but also that her carcinoma was still intact. She opted to have the skin cancer removed at another institution. The botched procedure took place at the September 8th Hospital in the Macedonia capital of Skopje.

CEN reported that Velkovska and her lawyers reached an agreement with the hospital managers outside of court, indicating the hospital would pay her about $33,000. She has received the majority of that sum but is awaiting about $11,000.

Hospital manager Sasho Stojcev said insurance only partially covered the compensation and that it cannot pay any more without a court order. Velkovska said she and her family plan to sue the hospital if they do give her what she was promised.