Linda Kenney was no stranger to the operating room. By the age of 37, Kenney had already been through close to 20 surgeries in Boston-area hospitals for her bilateral club feet; a condition she was born with where both feet are turned downward and inward.

Kenney was back in the hospital awaiting anesthesia for her right ankle replacement surgery, a critical step doctors believed would improve her pain.

But instead of shooting the drugs into her nerves, the anesthesiologist erroneously injected them into Kenney’s vascular system, which caused an immediate seizure and cardiac arrest.

“I was flatlined for 15 minutes,” says Kenney. “Within 35 minutes, they had my chest opened and hooked up to a bypass machine. My husband got the call to leave work and made it to the hospital just as my blood started to flow again.”

After the incident, Kenney was shocked that no one at the hospital followed up with an offer for support.
“I almost lost my life, and not one person thought to offer me emotional support,” Kenney says.“I felt abandoned by the system.”

Launching the Patient and Family Peer Support Network

The incident led Kenney to reach out to other victims of medical harm, looking for connection. She later started a non-profit for survivors, and eventually joined the Betsy Lehman Center, a state agency named for a former Boston Globe reporter and mother who died from an overdose of chemotherapy during her cancer treatment.

Kenney is now director of peer support programs at the Betsy Lehman Center. Because of her work, the Center now offers a Patient and Family Peer Support Network for patients or their family members coping with medical harm.

According to a 2023 study conducted in Massachusetts by Harvard researchers and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, nearly 24 percent of hospital patients surveyed had experienced an adverse medical event, along with seven percent of individuals in outpatient treatment.

Kenney says those who have gone through the experience of medical injury or harm often have trouble sleeping, eating, or concentrating. They may also experience anger, guilt, or depression; feelings of inadequacy and loneliness; drug or alcohol abuse; loss of trust; and a desire to connect with others experiencing similar trauma.

“When people are involved in trauma, they connect better with someone who’s been through it.” — Sue Nevins

Nearly 20 years ago, nurse Sue Nevins had surgery of her own to remove a tumor in her salivary glands located at the back of the jaw. In an unexpected complication, Nevins woke up with facial palsy, a significant impairment that froze half of her face and upended her whole life.

“I felt very lost and alone, and it was hard to get answers,” says Nevins. “My face was totally changed, and I had trouble drinking, eating, and speech difficulties. But it felt like no one at the hospital would talk about it.”

Nevins eventually found help connecting with Linda Kenney.

“Just that connection made the world of difference for me,” says Nevins. “When people are involved in trauma, they connect better with someone who’s been through it. That was the beginning of my healing journey.”

Nevins says that with the help of Kenney, she emerged through her recovery stronger and even decided to become a volunteer with the Patient and Family Peer Support Network herself.

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts thought peer support was so important that they put this program in the Betsy Lehman Center, and our state deserves a lot of credit for that,” says Nevins. “When it’s a life altering event, you need a lot more ongoing support, and now patients are getting connection easier.”

You are not alone. Help is available now.

The Patient and Family Peer Support Network is a free, Massachusetts-based resource that connects patients and families with volunteers — peers with lived experience. They are trained to help with the difficult feelings that people sometimes experience following a medical treatment or procedure that did not go as planned, whether from a medical error or an unexpected complication.To seek help, call 617-701-8271, email [email protected], or fill out the Center’s Patient and Family Support Request Form online. 

A member of the Betsy Lehman Center staff will connect you with a peer supporter who has also experienced medical harm. You and the peer supporter can together decide how much and what kind of help you need most.

Remember, you are not alone. Help is available now.

“We have trained peer supporters who can really restore hope,” says Kenney. “We want everyone to know there is a way to move forward when things go wrong with their care. We hope everyone has an opportunity to connect.” Reach out today and learn more at BetsyLehmanCenterMA.gov/Support.