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After injuring her knee while skiing in the Laurentians, Hazar Nejmeh decided to have her torn ACL repaired at the Verdun Hospital. She had tried physiotherapy first, but it had become clear it wouldn’t be enough.

Nejmeh’s doctor assured her the surgery was a routine medical procedure.

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But eight days, several surgeries and severe complications later, a new lawsuit alleges, medical staff were left with no choice: the surgeon had severed an artery behind Nejmeh’s kneeand in order to save her life, they needed to amputate her leg.

Nearly three years later, Nejmeh, 41, is suing Dr. Serge Tohmé, who performed the initial surgery, for $5 million, arguing his “professional negligence and imprudence” have forever altered her life and ability to raise her three children.

“This is an absolute tragedy and a horrible, horrible outcome for something that was supposed to be a routine surgery,” said Arthur Wechsler, a lawyer with Kugler Kandestin, the firm behind the suit.