The woman says the hospital told her ‘nothing was wrong’ and sent her home. Later, he required surgery for bone spurs in his spine

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• A woman said she was sent home from her local emergency room after complaining of pain, later requiring surgery for her spinal cord spurs.

• “I feel like now, because I wasn’t urgent, and they didn’t act fast enough, that I’m left with permanent nerve damage and constant cramps every night,” Amanda Young told a local news outlet.

• A hospital spokeswoman hit back at Young’s claims, however, saying her case was “thoroughly reviewed” and that she received appropriate care at the time.

One woman said she was sent home from her local emergency room in pain — later requiring surgery for bone spurs in her spine.

Amanda Young, from Queensland, Australia, called an ambulance in 2023 after experiencing worsening back pain and was taken to Townsville University Hospital, where she received pain medication and was sent home shortly after, local outlet 7 News reported.

Four hours later, Young told 7 News she returned to the hospital screaming in pain. There, she claimed to have faced opposition from medical facility staff, saying, “I was told by the doctor there to ‘shut up’. [but] Because of my symptoms and the pain I had, I couldn’t control it.”

“I was told that they had done everything they could for me, that my medication was appropriate, that they had increased the dose of the nerve blocker that was already working, so I went back to the hospital,” Young added to the outlet.

Young told 7News she was eventually placed in a hospital bed after her pleas.

“I couldn’t even get up to go to the bathroom. I asked them for a bedpan. They didn’t even give me a bedpan,” she claimed to the outlet. “I had to go over the edge of the bed. It was so embarrassing.”

Young also claimed to 7News that when he requested more medication to help ease his immediate pain, he felt he was treated like a “drug seeker.”

“I was told there was nothing wrong with me,” she told the outlet.

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According to Young, he was eventually sent home in a taxi. She said she “crawled” to her front door and to her bed.

The next day, Young told 7 News she returned to the hospital and invoked Ryan’s rule, which enables Queensland patients to initiate an immediate review of their care if they feel treatment has not been appropriately escalated. (The rule is named after Ryan Saunders, a teenager who died in 2007 after failing to receive proper medical care.)

She was then taken to the hospital’s surgery department for consultation, Young said.

“They gave me medication right away, the right medication to deal with my symptoms. I was told that he believed me and that they were going to operate on me, but because of the pain and what I had done in the last 38 hours, they weren’t going to talk about it at that time,” she told 7 News.

When Young finally received surgery the following year, she told News 7 that surgeons removed several large bone spurs in her back that had previously been undetected through an MRI.

Young claimed to 7 News that “the operation took four hours longer than expected due to the severity of the condition” and that she believes the delay in her care and surgery ultimately caused permanent damage.

“I feel like now, because I wasn’t urgent, and they didn’t act fast enough, that I’m left with permanent nerve damage and constant cramps every night,” he told 7 News.

Townsville Hospital and Health Services chief executive Karen Keys said in a statement to PEOPLE, “While I acknowledge this patient’s experience and understand the issues associated with complex and chronic pain conditions, the investigation into these claims did not ignore the patient’s concerns and the care provided by our staff was appropriate.”

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“The patient has previously raised a number of concerns with Townsville Hospital and Health Services about the timing of emergency department presentations, the use of Ryan’s rule and the timing of follow-up treatment,” she continued. “These matters were reviewed through our established patient feedback processes and were also referred to the independent Office of the Health Ombudsman, which concluded in January 2025 that the complaint had been handled appropriately.”

“Regarding the patient’s presentation to the emergency department in March 2023, on each occasion, the patient was clinically evaluated, pain relief provided, and managed appropriately based on symptoms and clinical examination,” Keys added. “Regarding the claims about Ryan’s Rule, our senior clinical staff conducted a thorough review of the patient following concerns raised during one of her presentations to the emergency department. This included a senior medical officer, a clinical nurse consultant and a nurse manager an hour later. Hospital records indicate that these reviews were not activated after Ryan’s Rule.”

Keyes also said that “Townsville Hospital and Health Service is committed to providing safe, respectful and patient-centred care, and encourages any patient to contact our Patient Response Service if they have concerns about their treatment.”

The health ombudsman’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Young told 7 News that while she is speaking out now because she has the privilege to advocate for herself, she is concerned about others who may not be able to do so.

“I have a voice,” she said. “I can speak up and advocate for myself, but it makes me worry about vulnerable people who don’t know their rights, who are afraid to speak up.”

Read the original article on People