A Wisconsin nurse named Mary K. Brown made headlines after she illegally amputated a hospice patient’s foot, with the alleged goal of putting it on display in her family’s taxidermy shop. However, the most shocking part of the story may be her punishment for the crime, or lack thereof.
The whole thing went down at the Spring Valley Senior Living and Healthcare Campus in Wisconsin back in May 2022. Brown, a nurse at the facility, reportedly took it upon herself to amputate 62-year-old Doug McFarland’s frostbitten and necrotic foot using bandage scissors, per KTSP. His foot was still hanging on by a few inches of tissue. He was alive, in hospice care, and Brown was absolutely not authorized to perform any kind of medical procedure, especially not one this drastic.
Even more troubling, court documents revealed that Brown had explicitly been told not to do it by a nursing home administrator. Brown later told investigators she believed the procedure would improve McFarland’s quality of life. A separate nurse came forward to reveal that Brown’s family runs a taxidermy business and that she planned to preserve the foot and slap a sign on it that read, “Wear your boots, kids.”
Wisconsin Nurse Gets Slap On The Wrist After Amputating Patient’s Foot With Plans To Display It
Understandably, McFarland’s family was horrified. His sister, Heidi, told reporters, “I just don’t understand. If you are a nurse, you are supposed to care, and if you care, you go through the proper channels to get permission to do something like that. Period.”
Yet somehow, despite the shocking nature of the incident, Brown walked away with what many are calling a “slap on the wrist.” She pleaded no contest to negligently abusing a patient. In exchange, two serious felony charges of intentionally causing great bodily harm and physically abusing an elder were dropped. The only penalty? She has to pay $443 in court fees and comply with any disciplinary actions from the nursing board. That’s it. No jail time, no felony conviction, no permanent mark that even begins to reflect the gravity of what happened.
Also worth noting: Doug McFarland passed away just days after the unauthorized procedure, though officials have not officially linked the amputation to his death.
Still, the fact remains that Brown violated her patient, ignored direct orders, and planned to turn a human body part into a backwoods cautionary tale. And yet, she’s not behind bars. The court system’s leniency in this case has left a lot of people scratching their heads and, frankly, feeling sick to their stomachs.
In the world of healthcare, where trust and dignity are supposed to be the cornerstone, this case is a chilling reminder that not everyone wearing scrubs is there for the right reasons. This Wisconsin nurse crossed the line, yet many believe that the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.
Hunter Spears 
Kenna Raye 
