💔Teen, 18, dies days after arm injury as family files $100 million lawsuit against Oregon hospital

he family of a teenager who died from an infection has brought a $100 million lawsuit against a hospital in Oregon.

Ethan Cantrell, 18, visited the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in the city of Corvallis on the morning of Aug. 15, 2024, after a piece of debris stabbed his right arm while he was cutting wood, according to the complaint, filed on April 29, which has been seen by PEOPLE.

The document alleged that doctors failed to clean out the pieces of pine needles and debris in his wound before closing it up and giving him an antibiotic.

After Cantrell was discharged from Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, that afternoon he had a fever of 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as experiencing pain and swelling in his right arm, per the complaint.

Cantrell’s mother, Jody Cantrell, then rang the hospital, before a nurse called back and “reassured” her that there was no reason to be concerned as her son was on antibiotics. She said that he might have COVID-19, per the complaint.

The document stated that the nurse did not consult a physician and that Cantrell took an at-home COVID-19 test, which came back negative.

He returned to the hospital the next day, before a second doctor opened his wound on Aug. 17, 2024 and removed “over 12 pieces of organic plant matter, including twigs, pine needles, and moss,” per the lawsuit.

Cultures came back and showed a type of bacteria called enterococcus faecalis, the complaint stated.

“As a general rule, laceration wounds are closed after cleaning,” the complaint alleged. “Deeper puncture wounds are left open or only loosely closed to allow drainage. Tightly closing a deep wound, especially if it may contain foreign material, increases the risk of infection.”

Cantrell’s symptoms continued to worsen, before he was flown from the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Hospital in Portland on Aug. 19, 2024 for surgery, which included having his right arm and right shoulder girdle amputated.

“Doctors at OHSU immediately recognized Ethan’s condition as life-threatening,” the complaint said. “They stabilized him and performed multiple surgeries. In an effort to save his life from the spreading. infection, doctors at OHSU amputated Ethan’s right arm as well as his right shoulder girdle. Despite these extreme measures, Ethan continued to deteriorate.”

He died at 18 years old the following day, on Aug. 20, 2024, “as a result of necrotizing soft tissue infection from a puncture injury in his right arm,” per the document.

The family is asking for a total of $100 million in damages in the lawsuit, which was filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

The Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, two doctors and Mary’s Peak Emergency Physicians, were all listed as defendants. Lawyer Brent Barton is representing Cantrell’s estate.

The lawsuit alleged that Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center failed to do an ultrasound, MRI or CT scan which may have been able to pick up the pine needles and other debris in Cantrell’s wound.

It also alleged that the initial doctor failed to “broaden the spectrum of antibiotics” and ensure that the scans were done in a “timely way” on Aug. 16, 2024.

Cantrell had graduated from Alsea High School a few months before his tragic death, and had recently proposed to his high school sweetheart that July, The Oregonian reported, citing the late teenager’s obituary on Philomath News. He was also launching a career as a logger, marking the fifth generation in his family to do so.

Tyler Jacobsen, Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Samaritan Health Services, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE of the case, “Our sympathies are with all who have been impacted by this loss. We take all concerns about patient care seriously, and we will respond through the appropriate legal process.”

PEOPLE has also contacted lawyer Brent Barton for comment, but didn’t immediately receive a response.