Woman's face burned after shoulder surgery

PLANTATION, Fla. (WSVN) -- A South Florida woman went under the knife to have a small growth removed from her shoulder, but woke up to find her face badly burned.

Patricia Araujo's face is burned to the flesh. Her eyebrows and eyelashes are also burned. "All over my head, down the side of my face. It burns a lot," said Araujo.

On Monday, Araujo went to West Side Regional Medical Center in Plantation, to have a small tissue mass on her shoulder removed. The procedure was a minor outpatient surgery. "I woke up to find out I had my face on fire," she said.

During her procedure something happened. "When I woke up, all these kinds of people were around me and I'm thinking, 'What is going on here,'" said Araujo. "And my face was really burning and they said, 'Oh, we had a little accident. The elastic on the bonnet had caught fire, so your face got burned.'"

Araujo said she was told the cauterizing device sparked, ignited the oxygen and caused her surgical bonnet to catch fire. "In her case, her face was the fuel source, and from what we understand, the cauterization device that they used is what set off the ignition," said Attorney Bill Kennedy.

Araujo is now looking for answers. "A very simple in and out procedure and now I'm stuck with the face that looks like this," she said.

Kennedy said, "We are putting them on notice. They are being put on notice today, but the thing that upsets us the most is the fact that supposedly, this happened within the first 10 minutes of her being in the room," he said. "And they waited over one hour before they contacted the husband and then dialed 911."

"I would like to get my face back," said Arajo.

Araujo has contacted a plastic surgeon. Her wounds have to heal before she can have any procedure done.

7News contacted the CEO at West Side Regional, but they have not commented on the situation.

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