A Minnesota county will pay $12.2 million to a Black man who lost both of his hands and suffered a heart attack, stroke, and skin lesions after officials failed to administer proper care in jail, according to a lawsuit per the Associated Press.
The settlement with Scott County stems from the August 2020 arrest of Terrance Dwayne Winborn in Minneapolis. Winborn was pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving. His blood alcohol level came in at 0.13 percent at the Scott County jail, higher than the legal limit of 0.08 percent, according to a lawsuit he filed last year. After his blood alcohol content came down to zero, Winborn started vomiting.
Winborn wasn’t able to stand on his own when a jail nurse visited his cell for a COVID-19 check, according to his lawsuit. The nurse noted that his right hand was “extremely swollen,” and that he had trouble answering questions, During a second visit later that day, the nurse wasn’t able to measure his blood oxygen level but never administered emergency care.
“That deliberate indifference allowed a bacterial infection to run rampant within his body, leading to a heart attack … and a host of other devastating and permanent injuries,” attorney Katie Bennett said.
A day after his arrest, Winborn was transported to a hospital where he was put in intensive care, according to his suit. Doctors amputated his hand and part of his forearm after the onset of necrotizing fasciitis, a condition known as flesh-eating bacteria.
Winborn was transferred to a nursing home in November where he weighed in at 126 pounds, dropping below his normal weight of 180. Another infection prompted doctors to amputate his left arm in December.
According to attorneys, the $12.2 million settlement will go toward the more than $2 million in medical bills that Winborn has racked up along with the millions of dollars he’ll need for future care.
Still, Winborn said he only eats two meals a day because three takes too much work without hands.
“I don’t sleep because every time I dream, I dream I have my hands, you know. And I wake up, they’re gone again,” Winborn said in a video statement. “I’d rather have my hands than anything.”
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