Hospital amputates wrong leg

AN Austrian hospital has amputated the wrong leg of a patient, blaming human error for what it called a "tragic mistake".

The elderly patient is suffering from many illnesses, the Freistadt Clinic, in a town of the same name near the Czech border, said in a statement.

Previous sicknesses have affected his legs, to the point that his left leg required amputation.

"We are deeply shocked that on Tuesday, despite quality assurance standards, the wrong leg of an 82-year old man . . . was amputated," the clinic said, adding that the mistake was first noticed during a bandage change on Thursday morning.

The error appears to have been made shortly before the operation, when the leg that was to be amputated was marked, the clinic said.

"Unfortunately the mistake, in which the right leg was removed instead of the left, occurred as a result of a sequence of unfortunate circumstances," it said, adding that it was investigating what happened and would review its standards.

The patient has been offered psychological assistance and must still undergo another operation to remove his left leg from mid-thigh.

"The operation is planned shortly," the clinic said.

‘Remarkable' two-year-old

Kashe Quest is a toddler with a bright future ahead of her.

The two-year-old from Los Angeles is now the youngest member of American Mensa, a group of highly intelligent people who have scored in the top 2 percent of the general population on a standardised intelligence test.

"Kashe is certainly a remarkable addition to American Mensa," Trevor Mitchell, executive director of American Mensa, tells People Magazine in a statement.

"We are proud to have her and to be able to help her and her parents with the unique challenges that gifted youth encounter."

While most toddlers should be able to recite some numbers by the time they are two, Kashe's mother, Sukhjit Athwal, told KTTV her daughter is able to count to 100. Kashe also knows more than 50 signs in sign language - an impressive feat.

"We started to notice her memory was really great. She just picked up things really fast and she was really interested in learning," Athwal told the outlet.

"At about 17, 18 months, she had recognised all the alphabet, numbers, colours and shapes."

Adding to her many milestones, Kashe is learning Spanish and can point out all 50 US states by their shape and location.

Her IQ is 146, according to Athwal, which is far above the average American IQ of about 98.

But, as Athwal noted, Kashe is still a typical child in many ways.

"At the end of the day, she is in that toddler stage," Athwal told KTTV.

"She very much is still a normal two-year-old where we have negotiations, we have tantrums, we have everything and it's different because the way we communicate with her, it has to be different because she is able to understand just a little bit more."

"I think one of the biggest things with me and (my) daughter (is) making sure she has a childhood and we don't force anything on her," she added.

"We are kind of going at her pace and we want to just make sure that she is youthful for as long as she can be."

American Mensa says it has more than 50 000 members, ranging from ages two to 102.

This group includes a range of people, such as engineers, homemakers, teachers, actors and students.

Teen spends six years digging underground home

When Andres Canto was 14-year-old, he got into a minor argument with his parents when they told him he could not go into the local village wearing a tracksuit.

In retaliation, he stayed at home and grabbed his grandfather's pickaxe, using it to take out his frustration by angrily attacking the ground in the garden.

But Andres' act of petulance bizarrely became an obsession, and six years after the now 20-year-old first broke ground, he has created his very own underground cave, with steps leading deep down to a structure comprising of a living and bedroom.

Andres, who is now an actor, says he has no idea what initially sparked the idea of using his frustration to dig a hole at his family home in the town of La Romana, Spain, but he began using it as a way to wind down in the evenings after school, working on his excavation by hand several days a week.

The project stepped up a few gears when his friend Andreu brought round a pneumatic drill, and the pair spent up to 14 hours a week digging almost 10-foot (three metres) into the earth in his parents' garden.

The layout of his retreat was often determined by the obstacles that got in the way of the project.

 He said: "Sometimes I came across a big stone and it could be frustrating after hours of digging that I had done almost nothing."

The soil was originally removed by hand using buckets, but as Andres went deeper and deeper, he began to study excavation techniques and later developed a pulley system to take rubble to the surface.

As he began to create rooms, he reinforced the ceilings using arched entrances and vaulted ceilings with reinforced columns to prevent a potential collapse.

Andres said: "It's great, I have everything I need. It can be tiring to work here as it is wet and there is not much air going around, but I have found my own motivation to keep on digging every day."

He estimates the project has cost him a grand total of £43 (US$61).