Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Joe Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

A COVID-19 patient has been left fighting for his life after trying to escape from hospital by climbing down from the balcony and falling 10m onto the ground below.

The man, identified as 40-year-old Erkan A., had apparently been diagnosed as positive some time ago, and was being treated at the Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University Mengucek Gazi Training and Research Hospital in the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey.

He was reportedly frustrated at being kept in the hospital so long, and had wanted to leave, but, health officials had refused to allow him to go.

When they suddenly noticed that he had vanished from his bed, they initiated an emergency protocol to find him which also drafted in security personnel because there was a risk the man who was trying to escape might harm somebody on his way out.

When the man, who was still in the building, realised that the alarm had gone off and that they were looking for him, he smashed a glass door in order to get onto a balcony that was 10 metres (32 feet) above the ground, from where he then fell as he tried to climb to freedom.

He was critically injured and rushed to the emergency room where he currently remains in a serious condition.

The police meanwhile have started an investigation at the hospital into the circumstances around the incident.

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