IT was not the day Tom Cooper expected.
What was supposed to be a quick visit to the doctor ended in a two-hour challenge for the 79-year-old to escape Westfield Miranda.
Mr Cooper, a Yowie Bay amputee and diabetic, was on the ground floor of the shopping centre last month when he took a wrong turn into a self-locking fire exit door.
When the door slammed shut, he shouted, and banged on the door with a brick he found on the floor.
"I had just bought some nuts from the food court on my way home, and I thought I was heading for the lift," he said.
"I could hear people within feet of me, but no one heard."
With no phone to call for help, Mr Cooper wheeled down the corridor to see three flights of stairs going up.
He lifted himself off his chair, and dragged himself on his backside up about 100 stairs, using his knuckles for support.
"It was filthy as hell, and I couldn't kneel because I had knee surgery, so I felt bloody helpless," he said.
"There were several exit signs, but every door was locked."
Mr Cooper, an insulin-dependent diabetic, was worried he would collapse.
"I could feel my sugar levels drop," he said.
"Old people panic easily, and I really thought this was the place I'd end my days."
With bleeding hands, he managed to reach the street level exit on Wandella Road.
There he sat on the kerb and waited for help.
"I stopped a young lady who called security," Mr Cooper said.
"A bloke came up to dress my wounds, then took a while to find my wheelchair, and after that no one called to see if I was OK."
Mr Cooper wants better safety measures in fire exits.
"There should be surveillance cameras, an alarm or an exit on each floor," he said.
A Westfield spokeswoman said fire exit doors were self-locking as required by building codes.
She said it was an unfortunate incident, and Westfield was assessing if there was a need for an additional system at fire exits, aside from the existing signage.
"[This is in] the event that a member of the public may mistakenly enter a fire corridor and find themselves locked in," she said.
"While there is signage in place that includes locator maps and a number to call, and our teams also conduct periodic patrols, there may be rare occasions where a shopper find themselves locked in the fire corridor."
Have you had a similar experience?
