Hospital apologises for error that left girl paralysed

A teenager was left paralysed from the waist down when a spinal anaesthetic was left in too long after a routine operation, a hospital has admitted.

Sophie Tyler, 17, of Risca, near Newport, south Wales, will never walk again after an epidural was mistakenly left in place for more than two days. She was in Birmingham Children's Hospital for the removal of gallstones in May 2008 when she was 14 years old.

The hospital trust has now admitted liability and apologised for the "unimaginable distress caused".