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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Hannah Dodd & Saffron Otter

Inside 'horrifying' abandoned children's asylum with barbaric tanks and drawings on walls

An urban explorer has shared a harrowing look inside a former children’s asylum - which reportedly “neglected patients” and subjected them to barbaric hydrotherapy treatments.

Gabby, from the US, found out about the infamous facility online and visited it with her boyfriend Sonny, 25.

While the 24-year-old has chosen not to disclose the location to discourage vandalism, she has shared that the facility allegedly “neglected patients” and “performed experimental procedures on patients without consent”.

During their exploration, the couple checked out a number of surgical rooms, a morgue still containing drawers, as well as dozens of hydrotherapy tanks - which exposed patients to extreme heat and cold in an attempt to treat them.

Gabby also noted how some patients' clothing had been left on the floors, covered by cave crickets which had now infested the downstairs rooms.

A corridor inside the abandoned asylum (Jam Press Vid/@urbex_muse)
Some pictures left behind (Jam Press Vid/@urbex_muse)

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The explorer often found herself wondering about the young patients who resided at the facility, many of whom were orphaned.

The asylum was shown to be significantly decayed with nearly every surface crumbling apart and every floor completely covered with pieces of the ceiling, broken tiles, dirt, litter, and asbestos.

Gabby shared footage of the facility on her TikTok account (@urbexmuse) with her 1.6 million followers.

In one clip, which received 66,600 likes and 324,700 views, she pans around to reveal a series of bathtub-like tanks, with water heaters attached.

She explains how the patients could be burned or be exposed to extreme cold in an effort to treat them.

"Horrific. People don't realise it wasn't long ago these were used, it's within living memory," commented one user.

"Reminds me of American Horror Story," wrote another user.

"I don’t know why but I find the history of asylums so interesting,” said another.

"I'm terrified…" wrote one user.

"The bad energy from this place,” added another user.

The old 'psych ward' (Jam Press Vid/@urbex_muse)
The hydrotherapy room (Jam Press Vid/@urbex_muse)

Gabby continued: "While making our way through the wards we entered one of the bathrooms which had a very old hydrotherapy tub which was used to provide hydrotherapy treatments to the patients at the facility.

"The tub was quite vandalised, but it was still amazing to see a piece of equipment that was integral to the patient’s day-to-day lives while residing here.

"As we continued to the upper floors, we discovered two adjoining surgical rooms with large windows which were designed to increase the amount of light entering the room and improve visibility of the body cavity while the doctors were operating.

"I also took a moment to look at the drains on the floors of each room where bodily fluids likely were washed down.

"After this we ended up heading downstairs where multiple dental units were still left amongst countless cave crickets and patient clothing items covering the floors.

"Finally, we entered the morgue which consisted of four drawers to hold four bodies.

TikTok users said the tour was 'terrifying' (Jam Press Vid/@urbex_muse)
An old bed remains at the asylum (Jam Press Vid/@urbex_muse)

"Neighbouring the morgue was the room where autopsies were conducted, however only the base of the autopsy table remains.”

Gabby, who has an interest in psychology, said it was fascinating to explore the location.

She was also surprised by the colourful decor, something many facilities used to create a ‘calming effect’ on patients.

She added: “It was especially intense and saddening making our way through this facility knowing that countless children who were either orphans or considered ‘undesirable’ resided here.

“Additionally, this facility was documented to have neglected patients as well as testing out experimental procedures and treatments on them without their consent, which is very upsetting to think about.

“I was most surprised by the dental units since I knew that historically multiple asylums and psychiatric centres would remove the teeth of patients who were known to be biters and were difficult to feed.

“Seeing those dental units here made me wonder if any of these patients faced the same fate.”

Do you have a story? Get in touch at webfeatures@trinitymirror.co.uk

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