EXCLUSIVE: Vic, 73, went to hospital hoping to be cared for. Instead, he says he was choked by a security guard who refused to let him leave.
For more than a year, the pensioner has been fighting for justice, and he recently managed to obtain body-worn camera footage that shows the incident.
The hospital claims Vic was the instigator, but Vic says he’s the victim.
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”That’s me throat, you’re hurting me throat,” audio from the bodycam footage records Vic saying.
Pushed down and restrained to a hospital chair, the 73-year-old pleaded for mercy as a security guard grabbed his throat.
“I’m still disgusted what they did to me, you shouldn’t do that, and the hospital did nothing about it,” he told 9News.
Vic says the footage is hard to watch, even 15 months later.
“What they did to me was terrible, and nobody cares,” he said.
The retiree took himself to Monash Health’s Moorabbin Hospital in March last year, with a cyst in his throat and emphysema.
He needed a tracheostomy but was unhappy with how he was being treated.
“I was disgusted with how I was being treated so I wanted to go to another hospital, he wouldn’t let me go, I was his property,” he said.
The situation became tense.
Vic said he struggled to hear with his cochlear implant before he was pushed back into his seat.
“He’s being aggressive, he needs to be medicated,” the hospital worker could be heard saying during the struggle.
Vic complained to Monash Health and Victoria Police, accumulating a mountain of correspondence.
“I’m like an old tin can that’s been kicked down the road,” he told 9News.
“Your behaviour became aggressive and you took hold of a fire extinguisher still on the wall … the staff present felt threatened,” Monash Health told the pensioner in an email.
“I was angry because they wouldn’t let me go, I was angry because they were assaulting me,” Vic said.
“What am I supposed to do?”
A spokesperson from Monash Health said it has a duty to protect patients and staff, and it concluded that “all teams involved acted appropriately”.
“Monash Health has a duty to take all reasonably practicable steps, including de-escalation, to protect patients and staff from the consequences of aggressive behaviours, including by taking appropriate steps to prevent patients from harming themselves.
“Monash Health conducted a thorough review of this incident, concluding that all teams involved acted appropriately. We also supported Victoria Police in investigating the matter.
“We are unable to provide further comment due to strict patient privacy obligations.”
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