As Sharon Clark was stuck in a lift at John Hunter Hospital car park, her aunt Margaret was dying.
It was a stressful situation for the West Wallsend grandmother, being trapped with two family members - including a child.
"We were caught between floors," said Ms Clark, 62.
"I was concerned about my health, as I have spinal injuries and heart failure from a car crash."
It was hot and stuffy and it took a while for someone to answer the emergency phone.
Ms Clark was stuck in the lift last Saturday (September 13) for about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
"I thought security would answer and come straight away, but they didn't because the call was going to a Sydney location," she said.
"We couldn't get out of the lift when the technician arrived. He had to prise the door open with tools."
A ladder was used to get them out.
"I had to climb up and I was in a lot of pain. I was worried the lift would drop and had a panic attack. It was overwhelming and very traumatic," she said.
"I was angry at the situation. No one should go through that."
While in the lift, Ms Clark was receiving phone calls from family, relaying messages from hospital staff urging her to see her aunt quickly.
Margaret Winchester, her aunt, died on Tuesday at age 76.
"She was a mother hen - a tiny fragile thing with a big heart," she said
Ms Clark felt her death could have been prevented.
She said Margaret was at the hospital "so many times this year and they kept sending her home".
Her aunt had two stents inserted in her kidneys, the first one in February and the second a few months ago.
Margaret became unwell after the second surgery.
"She was very sick. It started not long after she came out of the John Hunter," she said.
"The nurses at her nursing home gave her antibiotics, but she wasn't getting better.
"She was super-sensitive to infection."
Given what medical staff told her, Ms Clark believed the stents were the "source of the infection".
"They said we need to get the stents out and put new ones in. Then they cancelled the surgery because they detected E. coli, COVID and another serious infection in the blood.
"But they sent her home and she got worse. They said to me, 'we will bring her back for surgery'.
"I wanted them to do the surgery and take those filthy infected stents out.
"Were the stents infected when they were placed in her during surgery? We'll never know."
She said the infection was "like a raging fire".
"It went rampant through her body. She'd had infections before, but they were treatable and manageable.
"I believe if they did the surgery, she'd still be alive today."
Margaret's weight fell to about 40 kilograms.
"She was so skinny, her body was all bones," Ms Clark said.
"She was shutting down quickly. I was getting phone call after phone call."
Doctors were worried she was too weak for the surgery, but they were still weighing it up as her death approached.
"On her deathbed, they were ringing me saying we should at least try to do the surgery," Ms Clark said.
"They said 'we'll do the surgery in the morning, can you be here?'
"I got up early and, on my way in, the lift broke down.
"Then I got a phone call while I was in the lift, saying they're not doing surgery now, she's not going to be with us much longer. Hurry up and get in here. I was so upset."
Ms Clark said her aunt was a friendly person who would help "anyone who was struggling".
"She'd give money, nothing silly. Even just $10 for a pie and coke to help them out. That's who she was."
Hunter New England Health declined to comment on the lift incident and Margaret's delayed surgery.
