A Wisconsin nurse has been accused of intentionally cutting off a dying patient’s foot with plans to display it in her family’s taxidermy shop.
via People:
Mary K. Brown, 38, allegedly told coworkers she planned to display the severed foot, alongside a sign that read, “Wear your boots, kids,” according to The Washington Post.
Court records indicate Brown has been charged with physical abuse of an elder person and mayhem.
According to the arrest affidavit obtained by the Post, Brown allegedly admitted to amputating the foot of an unidentified 62-year-old male patient at the Spring Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center in Spring Valley, Wis., earlier this year.
The victim was admitted to the facility in March due to a fall at home and severely frostbitten feet, the outlet reports, citing the affidavit.
Workers at the nursing home reportedly described the patient’s feet as “black like a mummy,” according to the paper.
The victim’s health continued to deteriorate from the time he was admitted.
He suffered another fall out of bed, further damaging his right foot, according to the outlet, prompting Brown to seek permission from an administrator regarding its amputation, according to the outlet.
KSTP-TV reports an administrator denied her request.
“Brown had no doctor’s order to conduct an amputation. She stated that she did not have any authorization to remove VICTIM’s foot. Brown did not have VICTIM’s permission to amputate his foot. Administrators of the nursing home agreed that it was outside of the scope of Brown’s practice to conduct such a procedure and a doctor’s order was necessary prior to any amputation,” the station reports, citing the affidavit.
Still, Brown allegedly forged ahead with her plans to amputate the foot using gauze scissors, per the Post.
According to WEAU-TV, two other nurses witnessed the incident.
Per the outlet, the man did not appear to be in pain during the procedure and suffered minimal blood loss, but also noted “it was not a very good amputation,” citing a witnessing nurse.
However, the Post reports another nurse told investigators the patient claimed he had “felt everything and it hurt very bad,” according to the affidavit.
Following the procedure, Brown allegedly put the foot in a red biohazard bag and placed it in the freezer, only to tell another nurse to retrieve it so she could “take it home to preserve it.”
The nurse did not comply and days later the victim died, according to the outlet.
The medical examiner reportedly alerted authorities to the man’s death, after discovering his foot was not attached to his corpse.
According to the affidavit, WEAU reports coworkers defended Brown’s decision to amputate, stating that she did not do so out of malice, but rather to provide the patient with “dignity and comfort.”
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, Chief Executive Officer of Spring Valley Health Care Services Kevin Larson confirmed Brown no longer works at the facility.
“We have and will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation into this matter. The person identified is not employed with our community,” Larson said.
Lawyer information for Brown was unavailable Tuesday and it was unclear if she entered a plea to the charges.
Brown is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 6.
They need to review every patient who has been in her care to see if they’re missing any appendages.
