AN official apology has been sent to a grieving Sticklepath widow, after surgeons left a scalpel blade inside her husband?s body during a heart bypass operation just over 18 months ago. Derriford Hospital in Plymouth has written to Joan Hutchison to apologise for the blunder, which occurred when her husband Victor was operated on at the hospital in September 2003. Mr Hutchison, who was headteacher at Sticklepath Primary School for 21 years, died in March from unrelated causes, aged 76. Staff had the hospital searched for the blade when they realised it had gone missing and Mr Hutchison was given an X-ray. But the blade had become lodged near his spine and was not picked up until he had another X-ray at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, three months later. Surgeons then took the decision that it would be safer to leave the blade inside Mr Hutchison?s body, rather than operate again to remove it. Mrs Hutchison said she and her husband felt ?total disbelief? when they were told where the blade was. ?It was as though we were frozen in time,? said Mrs Hutchison, who said the knowledge caused them both huge concern. ?It was always on our minds, it?s not something you can immediately forget about. We were always aware of it and fearful ? it?s not a nice thing to know that there is a sharp instrument inside you.? She said after the discovery, staff at Derriford Hospital ?tried to play it down?. ?Apparently in these cases, it?s like having shrapnel, your body produces some sort of support for it and that?s what they were hoping would happen. ?It was treated very casually ? it wasn?t even on his notes when he went back into hospital. He was having epidurals and drips and I had to keep saying, ?You do realise he has a blade inside him?? ? it was a total nightmare, all the time.? In a statement, Derriford Hospital said: ?We can only apologise that the surgical blade was left in Mr Hutchison and that the X-rays failed to reveal it at the time. ?It was reported and investigated as a serious clinical incident when it happened, as per our standard procedures. ?We then carried out a further full investigation, which included statements from all staff involved. ?The incident was taken very seriously and we have changed theatre practices to ensure this cannot happen again.? A pathologist found the presence of the scalpel blade did not contribute to Mr Hutchison?s death, the hospital added.