Lawyer Dr N. Ahilan (left) says his client, former national junior athlete Nor Azleen Mohammad Mustafa, had to cut short her athletic career after she underwent the corrective spinal surgery in 2005. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, January 7, 2014.Former national junior athlete Nor Azleen Mohammad Mustafa, who suffered nerve damage resulting in partial paralysis of the legs after spinal surgery 10 years ago, is seeking more than RM4.6 million in damages from the surgeon concerned and the hospital where she was treated.Her lawyer, Dr N. Ahilan, said the Penang High Court would hear clarifications and submissions from both the plaintiff and defence on January 22.He said they were seeking RM3 million in general damages, RM1.6 million in special damages and others."We hope to be awarded the amount. Azleen's career was cut short after she underwent the corrective spinal surgery in 2005. Now she is paralysed from waist down."She was only 14 then and she had dreamt of having a bright future in her sport. It is now almost a decade that she has been suffering from pain, emotional and psychological embarrassment."She has no job prospects. She couldn't find work since she cannot sit or stand for long, and needs to be assisted. Her movements are impaired... even her marriage prospects have been destroyed," Ahilan said after submitting an assessment of damages to court deputy registrar Ahzal Fariz Ahmad Khairuddin today.Azleen was a 100m sprinter who represented Penang and Malaysia in junior championships.Ahilan said when she was a teenager, her track record was good and she had a bright future as an athlete, with prospects to do well internationally as well.Ahilan said the defendants' lawyer also handed in their submission today.He said the defence has also filed an appeal to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal's ruling last year that favoured Azleen.However, a date has yet to be fixed for the hearing.Azleen filed her suit in Penang against Dr Omar Md Isa of Universiti Malaya Medical Faculty's Orthopaedic Department and Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) several years ago.But then judicial commissioner Nurmala Salim dismissed the suit in November 2012, ruling that Azleen had failed to prove that Dr Omar had been negligent when performing the surgery.Azleen took her case to the Court of Appeal and won her medical negligence suit in July last year.A three-man bench chaired by Datuk Mohd Hishamuddin Mohd Yunus, which reversed the finding of the Penang High Court, ruled that the doctor who performed the operation was liable.Hishamuddin said as a result, the hospital he was working in was also held to be vicariously liable and ordered the case to be reverted before a High Court registrar in Penang for assessment of damages.Azleen was also awarded RM30,000 in costs. – January 7, 2015.
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