A former hospice nurse out of Wisconsin has been slammed with a number of different charges in the wake of amputating the foot of a dying patient without any sort of order from a doctor or even the consent of the patient, explained police officials.
38-year-old Mary K. Brown has been issued charges to the tune of physical abuse of an elderly person, intentionally causing great bodily harm, and mayhem, read a report about the criminal complaint obtained by WQOW. At the time, Brown was working for the Spring Valley Health and Rehab Center in Spring Valley, Wisconsin, as a hospice nurse when she was tending to the victim back in March of 2022.
The victim in this scenario, a still unidentified man, was brought into the nursing home with a severe case of frostbite on both feet and was thought to be near death by the end of May. As his right foot become necrotic and was only attached by skin and tendons, Brown allegedly took it upon herself to cut off the offending appendage without permission from anyone. A number of witnesses explained to police officials that Brown removed the foot from the victim without consulting or getting an order from a doctor and without the victim himself even asking her to carry out the procedure on his foot. Brown allegedly fully admitted that she had not taken the steps to get a doctor’s order to carry out the amputation.
Another nurse explained to police that she was present when Brown carried out the removal of the foot and that she held the victim’s hand as he moaned in pain throughout the event. Yet another nurse expressed to police that the man explained to Brown that he had felt everything throughout the amputation and had been in extreme pain.
One nurse explained to the police that the amputation was not done cleanly or well and that Brown had stated that her family runs a taxidermy ship and she would get the amputated appendage preserved in an effort to display it alongside a sign reading, “wear your boots, kids.”
Reportedly, Brown explained to police that removed the man’s foot in order to make him much more comfortable and expressed hope that someone would do the same to her if she had been suffering in that position.
As the administrator and CEO of Spring Valley Senior Living and Health Care, Kevin Larson stated to WQOW that Brown was not an employee for their business.
“We have and will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation into this matter. The person identified is not employed with our community,” explained Larson to the outlet.
The New York Post reported that it is still unclear if the victim is still alive.
Brown will first appear in court in December. If convicted of these charges she is looking down the barrel of 40 years in prison for each count.
