An Army veteran and longtime postal worker from St. Louis who lost his leg and suffered severe brain damage following a routine procedure at John Cochran VA Medical Center was awarded $8.3 million Monday in federal court.Dirk Askew, then 43, had a cardiac stent inserted at Cochran in February 2009 after complaining of chest pain. Askew soon developed swelling and bleeding at the surgical site in his right upper thigh. After a week, he was readmitted to Cochran and had surgery to repair an artery at the woun