Disabled Patient Says She Was Abandoned in Clinic, Rolled Off Exam Table to Call Help
Ankita Mackin, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, says she was left behind with no help, a dead phone, and no way to get off the exam table. She was trapped alone inside a locked medical clinic for hours and had to roll herself off the table and crawl across the floor to call for help.
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An Atlanta woman with multiple sclerosis says she was forgotten and locked inside a medical clinic for hours after her appointment ended, with no staff in sight and no way to call for help.
Ankita Mackin, who uses a wheelchair, had a 2 p.m. appointment at the Hanger Clinic in Buckhead on Thursday, August 21, to be fitted for foot braces. Her transportation service dropped her off at the front entrance.
She thought clinic staff would help arrange her ride home when she finished—especially because her phone was dead.
“I can’t believe these people left me in this building like this,” Mackin said.
Alone, Stranded, and Phone Dead
After the appointment, Mackin says she was left sitting on an exam table in one of the rooms. Her phone wasn’t charged, and she was unable to get down on her own.
She watched clinic staff walk by her room, the door open the whole time and still, no one checked on her.
At some point, she fell asleep. When she woke up, it was nearly 4 p.m.—the clinic’s scheduled closing time.
“I’m still waiting, waiting, waiting and the next thing you know it went quiet, it gets quiet,” she said.
Realizing the building had gone silent, Mackin began calling out for help.
“So I’m like, 'hello, hello, nurse, doctor, is anyone in there,'” Mackin said.
No one came.
“I was like, ‘Oh Lord! What am I going to do?’ My phone is dead, I’m sitting up on this high table,” she recalled.
With no response and no other option, she rolled herself off the table, hitting the floor and injuring her back. She said the fall left her legs in intense pain too. She then crawled across the room to find an outlet where she could charge her phone just enough to call for help.
Emergency Crews Found Her on the Floor
Mackin says she dialed 911 multiple times but didn’t get an immediate response. Eventually, she was able to reach her daughters on FaceTime and explain what had happened.
Her daughter rushed to the clinic—and minutes later, Atlanta Police, Atlanta Fire, and Grady EMS arrived.
Emergency responders forced their way into the locked building and found Mackin on the floor, near the wall outlet where she had been charging her phone. She had been trapped inside for nearly seven hours.
“They were shocked,” Mackin said. “They were like, ‘Oh my God, I’m sorry this happened to you.’”
She was later evaluated at Grady Hospital and released.
“Who Checks the Rooms?”
Mackin’s daughter, Aquadia Yahkia, said she couldn't believe no one noticed her mother was still inside.
“Like who locks up the building—no one walks around to check each room?”
Mackin said she had no food, no water, and no access to a bathroom during the ordeal. She called the experience traumatizing and humiliating.
Clinic’s Response
Hanger Clinic has not addressed how Mackin was left behind or what safety protocols may have failed.
When contacted, the clinic’s external communications manager issued the following statement to 11Alive:
“Thank you for reaching out. Local emergency services personnel responded to our clinic yesterday, but given HIPAA privacy laws, I cannot provide any additional information.”
Mackin’s family says they are demanding accountability and answers.
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