CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- After a three-day trial, a Lawrence County, Ky. jury awarded $2.5 million to a woman injured during surgery and her husband late Wednesday afternoon.

Williamson lawyers H. Truman Chafin and Letitia Neese Chafin represented Sophia and Darrell Savage in a lawsuit against Three Rivers Medical Center in Louisa, Ky.

"In December of 2001, Sophia had a hysterectomy at that hospital, where she was a nurse. During surgery, they left a lab sponge inside her. She did not discover it until she started having problems three and a half years later," Chafin said.

The jury verdict included: $1,934,031 for past and future pain and $65,969 for medical expenses. The jury also awarded $500,000 to her husband Darrell.

"After Savage began having health problems," Chafin said, "one doctor did an X-ray and discovered a foreign body inside her. She was sent to a hospital in Ashland, Ky. the next day, where they took the lab sponge out.

"The sponge had matted and lodged against her lower intestines. The doctor took out 49 centimeters from her small intestine and sewed her back up. She has suffered from constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, depression and anxiety," Chafin said.

Sean Ragland, a lawyer in Louisville, Ky., who represented Three Rivers Medical Center, did not return a telephone call Thursday.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- After a three-day trial, a Lawrence County, Ky. jury awarded $2.5 million to a woman injured during surgery and her husband late Wednesday afternoon.

Williamson lawyers H. Truman Chafin and Letitia Neese Chafin represented Sophia and Darrell Savage in a lawsuit against Three Rivers Medical Center in Louisa, Ky.

"In December of 2001, Sophia had a hysterectomy at that hospital, where she was a nurse. During surgery, they left a lab sponge inside her. She did not discover it until she started having problems three and a half years later," Chafin said.

The jury verdict included: $1,934,031 for past and future pain and $65,969 for medical expenses. The jury also awarded $500,000 to her husband Darrell.

"After Savage began having health problems," Chafin said, "one doctor did an X-ray and discovered a foreign body inside her. She was sent to a hospital in Ashland, Ky. the next day, where they took the lab sponge out.

"The sponge had matted and lodged against her lower intestines. The doctor took out 49 centimeters from her small intestine and sewed her back up. She has suffered from constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, depression and anxiety," Chafin said.

Sean Ragland, a lawyer in Louisville, Ky., who represented Three Rivers Medical Center, did not return a telephone call Thursday.