Four years after receiving a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, Ankita Mackin, who uses a wheelchair, said she had an appointment at the Hanger Clinic in Buckhead to have braces fitted to help straighten her feet. She was disappointed, however, when she found herself trapped inside the medical clinic for hours after staff closed for the day.
Mackin described it as not just upsetting but also embarrassing. She claimed that for several hours, she was without food or water and had no means of using the restroom.
“I can’t believe these people left me in this building like this,” Mackin told 11 Alive News.
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She claimed she was dropped off around 2 p.m. The office closes at 4:00 p.m.
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Mackin assumed that when her appointment was over, staff would assist her in arranging a ride home. She explained that she couldn’t do it because her phone had died.
“So, I’m thinking that, ‘OK, well they know I’m finished so they’re going to call transportation to come back and get me,'” Mackin said.
Mackin said she observed the workers passing by her room the entire time.
“The door is open the whole time,” she said. “So, I’m waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, I done fell asleep woke up, I’m like hmmm…it’s almost four o’ clock.”
“I’m still waiting, waiting, waiting and the next thing you know it went quiet, it gets quiet,” she said.
According to Mackin, she started calling out as soon as it sounded as if the clinic was closing.
“So I’m like, ‘hello, hello, nurse, doctor, is anyone in there,’” Mackin recounted. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I know. Lord knows I hope they didn’t lock me in this building.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to her. Mackin began to panic.
“I was like, ‘Oh Lord! What am I going to do?’ my phone is dead, I’m sitting up on this high, table, chair,” she recalled.
According to Mackin, she felt she had no other option because no one was around and her phone wasn’t working.
“Totally dead, and I’m sitting up on this high chair,” she said. “I just rolled on off, hit the floor, hit my head, hurt my back.”
She claimed that her legs hurt a lot.
Mackin explained that she crawled across the floor until she discovered a wall outlet to charge her phone. She said she dialed 911 many times, but no one answered straight away. Mackin then spoke with her daughters over FaceTime and described what had happened.
Fortunately, Mackin had a phone charger for this session, according to her daughter Aquadia Yahkia, who revealed that her mother usually doesn’t take one with her.
After Yahkia went to the clinic, Grady EMS, Atlanta Police, and Atlanta Fire arrived in a matter of minutes.
“They were shocked, they were like, “Oh my God, I’m sorry this happened to you,” Mackin said of Atlanta firefighters who forced their way into the building.
Yahkia said she was stunned that her mother was left behind.
“Like who locks up the building, no one walks around to check each room,” she questioned.
Now, Mackin’s family is putting pressure on Hanger Clinic to explain how a patient could have been left inside the premises after it had closed.
She was transferred to Grady Hospital and checked out. She was released soon after.
A representative for Hanger Clinic said, “Local emergency services personnel responded to our clinic on August 21st, but given HIPAA privacy laws, I cannot provide any additional information.”
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