Getting Stuck in a Confined Area

Have you ever been stranded in a place where you feel a sudden urge to panic? Has there been a time where you’re trapped and you have no way of getting out without the help of others? Well I know I can say yes to both of these questions, and I’ll tell you the story that led me to this answer!

The other day I was at a doctor’s appointment. I took transportation so I had a driver who dropped me off and then one who picked me up. When the one got there to pick me up, my nurse, him and I got into the elevator to go up one floor in order to leave. After hitting the button to go up, the door closed about three fourths of the way and then suddenly… It stopped!

Luckily we were still on the same level, and the door was ajar just enough for someone to fit in and out. The driver got out and went to get help letting them know the situation. After a few minutes a bunch of servicemen came to try to get the door open. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do it by themselves so they had to call the elevator electrical technicians who were at a different location. They had to drive over to fix the problem.

Meanwhile, I was still stuck! By the time they got there I had been in the elevator for 35 minutes already. It took them about 10 minutes to actually get the door open before I could get back out on the same level. Unfortunately, the elevator was broken after that so I wasn’t able to use it. One of the security guards had to take us to the opposite end of the building, which took about 10 minutes, to the only other elevator.

At the time I was a little freaked out, especially not knowing how long I was going to be in the elevator. Although now it's almost laughable and I've been telling the story to just about everyone I see. So much so that I started telling it to one of my nurses and when I got to the part about me getting into the elevator with the nurse, I realized I was actually telling it to the nurse that was with me! She got a good laugh out of that and was going to wait until the end to ask me what nurse I was with!

This is me in the elevator. You can see the door slightly ajar, just enough space for someone to get through!

 

This was the first time in all my years that I’ve been stuck in an elevator. I actually have an elevator in my house. My room is in the basement. The elevator starts in my room and goes up to the main level were my dining room is, then to the 2^nd level into our loft area. I use it to get upstairs in the winter or when it’s raining outside. Otherwise I use one of the other three doors on the basement level to go around up the side of the house to the front driveway.

Jenni