Jonathan Buckelew was 24 years old and just wanted relief from neck pain. He went to a routine session with a chiropractor in Georgia, United States, and in the middle of the treatment he lost consciousness and began having seizures.
He was rushed to a hospital, but no one connected the dots in time: neither did the doctor who treated him tell the neurologist that he had come from a chiropractic session, nor did the neurologist detect it on the CT scan. Hours passed without a correct diagnosis while a stroke progressed unchecked. The result was locked-in syndrome: Jonathan remained conscious but trapped in his own body, able to communicate only by blinking or typing with his nose on a keyboard.
A Georgia court found the chiropractor and neurologist liable and ordered a historic $75 million award. But his father, Jack Buckelew, summed it up better than any figure: “There is no real justice for someone who lost every aspect of his life”.
