A former tennis pro involved in a car crash had his leg amputated as a result of alleged negligence by staff at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

And now, two years after the incident, Eldridge Smith, 75, has yet to receive compensation because Police lost the file on the investigation into the smash that has left him in a wheelchair.

On November 10, 2001, Mr. Smith, a former tennis pro and Calypso performer, was riding along South Shore Road, in Devonshire, when he was in a collision with a car.

He was transported to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital suffering from a broken left leg and broken right ankle. Mr. Smith was treated for his injuries and left the hospital within a few days.

But he later began suffering pain from a gash in his right leg, which he now claims was not treated correctly by staff at the hospital.

Six weeks after the smash, Mr. Smith was in a coma fighting for his life in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, suffering from heart failure, kidney failure and gangrene spreading through his lower right leg. The limb was subsequently amputated.

He then had to be flown by air ambulance to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland in a bid to save his other leg. It was then discovered that gangrene was spreading towards his heart and he also had a broken collar bone and bed sores ? none of which had been detected at the Bermuda hospital.

After a four month spell at Johns Hopkins, Mr. Smith returned to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital ? only for his left leg to start festering again within two weeks. He was air lifted back to Johns Hopkins for a second time and remained there for a further five months until he had completely recovered.

Mr. Smith, of Duke of Clarence Street, St. George's, who represented Bermuda in tennis tournaments and played against such tennis greats as Althea Turner and Arthur Ashe, said he wants justice and compensation for the crime that has been committed against him.

He is now suing the Bermuda Hospitals Board for malpractice.

And his family have also contacted the Bermuda Police Service demanding that charges be brought against the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident.

Mr. Smith has not been able to receive compensation from Colonial Insurance because the driver of the car that crashed into him has never been taken to court and charged with an offence.

"I was active before the accident. On the day that it happened I was on my way to finish painting a pool," said Mr. Smith, from his wheelchair yesterday.

"I want to be compensated and I want to the man who did this to me to be brought to justice.

"It is ridiculous that it has taken the Police over two years, after temporarily losing the file, to look into the matter.

"I have lost my leg and I cannot bend the other one because it doesn't have a knee any more, and has a rod in it, which runs the length of my left leg."

Despite his misfortune, Mr. Smith is pleased that he still has his life.

"I'm glad that I'm alive, although it would be great if I had a knee," he said.

"Whenever I go to a restaurant, try to play the piano or sit in a car, I have to sit sideways. It is difficult to hobble along with the walker."

One of Mr. Smith's daughters, Daltonell Minors, said the problem with receiving compensation from the insurance company, was that, in two years since the accident, the man responsible for the accident has never been brought to court to face the charges.

Mrs. Minors said: "The insurance company is waiting to see if he is found guilty before they help with all of my father's medical bills, although he did receive a cheque for the value of the bike."

In a letter to the Bermuda Police Service, Mrs. Minors wrote: "I was told by our legal counsel that the Police had lost the file for some 18 months and they found it only after I wrote to Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith.

"It causes a great deal of concern, because it indicates some level of inadequacy within the Police force, in terms of filing the necessary papers.

"It appears that the value attributed to my father's life is of little significance to the officer responsible for filing the papers or his immediate superiors.

"This situation reeks of inadequacies and incompetence and while we have our own theories on the reasons for this, we choose not to share them at this time, as it only serves to heighten our own suspicions and subsequently reduce our faith in the local force that is here to serve the community.

"My father, who was a well known local entertainer, Bermuda's first black tennis professional and a quality painter, has suffered tremendous physical, emotional and financial stress, as has his family."

Mrs. Minors added: "The entire ordeal has been stressful and we are tired of waiting for something to be done about it.

"My father has lost his independence and his income because of this man."

The Bermuda Police Service and King Edward VII Memorial Hospital were not able to comment by Press time last night.