Jurors saw an active Ken Ackerman during opening arguments of the former Portland television anchorman's malpractice lawsuit against Oregon Health & Science University.

KGW photo

Ken Ackerman talks about the lawsuit.

Ackerman claims two OHSU physicians caused him to be partially paralyzed after back surgery in 2003. To illustrate what was lost, his lawyer on Tuesday showed Multnomah County jurors a video of Ackerman water-skiing and rock-climbing. "Danger Zone," the Kenny Loggins song from the "Top Gun" movie, was the chosen soundtrack.

"This will give you an idea what he could do before the surgery," said Ackerman's lawyer, Richard Rogers, who also displayed images of Ackerman struggling to move his right arm at a rehabilitation clinic.

A lawyer for OHSU, Mark Wagner, also presented an active Ackerman. Only he showed photos of Ackerman exercising after the surgery, including a snapshot of Ackerman swimming. Moreover, Wagner told jurors that Ackerman continues to play competitive tennis, winning tournaments at the West Hills Racquet Club.

Ackerman, 45, is suing the hospital and doctors for $5 million, claiming that a botched surgery causes him to live with a constant pain in his right arm and without most of the fine motor skills in his right hand.

  Jurors selected; trial starts

  Read OHSU statement

  Ackerman talks about lawsuit

He went to OHSU Hospital on Dec. 15, 2003, for surgery to repair a bulging disk. OHSU's head of neurosurgery recommended that Dr. Alex West perform what was expected to be a 45-minute surgery.

Three weeks after the surgery, Rogers said, Ackerman learned that a resident conducted key portions of the surgery. Rogers said the resident had never before performed or assisted in that type of procedure.

Wagner told jurors that the hospital does not dispute that Ackerman "has deficits linked to the surgery" but that those deficits were not caused by medical malpractice or negligence. Rather, he said, they were "a known risk of the surgery."

Ackerman had been on Portland television since 1989, most recently as co-host of "AM Northwest" on KATU. Ackerman left the station in 2005.

OHSU doctors are shielded by a state law that limits their liability to $200,000. The Ackerman suit, however, is the first to come to trial since the Oregon Court of Appeals last month overruled the cap in another malpractice case.