NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A patient suffered a heart attack and then catches fire in the hospital. The man's own wife witnessed what happened.
Now a lawsuit is about to be filed in hopes of learning exactly what went wrong.
The details are disturbing.
The heart attack patient at TriStar Centennial Medical Center was surrounded by doctors and nurses while being given oxygen — and then he bursts into flames.
"They were all over that room there were like 10 to 12 people. It just blew and they started patting him down and I saw his hand and it was on fire. I was saying put him out or something like that," said Kathy Ray Starks, who was in the room with her husband.
Read more: 'Sheer panic:' Widow grieves after husband caught on fire at Nashville hospital
She and Bobby Ray Starks were married for nearly 35 years.
He died Thanksgiving night when something went horribly wrong at the hospital.
"When the oxygen exploded, I just went to pieces," Kathy Ray Starks said.
Malpractice attorney Clint Kelly is representing the Starks family and has sent a pre-suit notice to the hospital of a pending lawsuit.
"I want to take depositions to determine what happened," Kelly said.
Tri-Star has 60 days to respond to the pre-suit letter, but did issue this statement: "We extend our deepest sympathies to this family for the loss of their loved one. While we cannot discuss specifics, we are reviewing the care provided to the patient and the functionality of equipment."
Starks and her daughter Joyce want to know what went wrong.
"Yes I would because I don't want this to happen to anybody else," said Starks.
Kelly believes the defibrillator may have sparked the fire which was fueled by a massive oxygen leak.
"There are three potential issues here — one, failure to maintain the equipment, second an equipment failure and third he was not set up properly that resulted in a leak and the fire," Kelly said.
No one else was injured in the fire, which was witnessed by several people including Starks' wife Kathy who was there by her husband's side.
Oxygen itself does not catch fire. But pure oxygen can fuel something to burn much faster and hotter — which can be a hazard.
