Surviving a Panic-Inducing Elevator Incident: A Story of Lost Unity

As a child, it was difficult for me to endure closed spaces, I don’t even know where this fear came from. If I found myself in an elevator or in any other closed space, then I would have panic attacks.

My heart was beating faster, my palms were sweating, it felt like I was about to die. Over time, my phobia began to decrease. Gradually, I began to use elevators, to be where there were a lot of people. I have outgrown my fear.

I have a friend Maria, she is a music teacher. She has her own school in one of the business centers of our city. Once Masha invited me to a vocal lesson, for a very long time I wanted to test my musical abilities. We set a time, and I went to Masha for a lesson.

I arrived at the business center. The vocal school was on the 10th floor, I decided that I would take the elevator. There were four other people besides me: a guy, a man, a woman, and a little girl about six years old.

Nothing foreshadowed trouble, the elevator was moving very calmly, when suddenly it began to make a loud noise. I tried not to panic, controlled myself. And suddenly the elevator stopped abruptly, we were somewhere between the sixth and seventh floors.

-Just don’t panic, – the guy said, – now I’ll call the dispatcher, everything will be fine.

He pressed the emergency button, informed the dispatcher about the situation. The dispatcher told us to keep calm and wait for the rescuer, he will come in 15 minutes.

I tried to breathe deeply, think about the good, but every minute I felt worse. I wrote to Masha that the elevator was stuck and that I would be a little late. Five minutes have passed.

– When will this elevator man come? – the man said indignantly.

“He said that you need to wait fifteen minutes, so wait,” the woman told him.

“Don’t tell me what to do and what not to do,” he said in response.

The guy tried to calm the man, but he became more and more aggressive. At some point, the man just turned around and hit the guy with such force that he practically fell on me.

The woman began to separate them, and the child began to cry. Pandemonium began, it was difficult for me to breathe. I felt a panic attack begin: my heart was beating at an incredible speed, and my head was spinning. With my hand, I tried to find the wall of the elevator, so that I had something to lean on.

“It’s bad for the girl here,” I heard the woman’s voice, but it seemed very distant.

“I don’t care that she feels bad,” the aggressive man burst out.

I understood that if the elevator operator did not come now, then I would definitely pass out. The man and the guy continued to argue about something, the child continued to cry, and the woman continued to scream for everyone to calm down. It was an absolute hustle.

My mind was almost clouded, but some part of me understood what was happening around.

The guy and the man really started to fight. They pushed each other in different directions of the elevator. The woman again turned to the dispatcher, he said that the elevator operator was already on his way.

The panic inside and around intensified, I tried to breathe deeper. The man continued to attack the guy. I could not stand it and screamed at the whole elevator to make the man calm down, but this only aggravated the situation. In response to my cry, the man aggressively said that he would now calm me down.

A miracle saved my situation: the elevator doors did open. I barely crawled out, a mechanic stood outside, several people and Masha. I hugged her tightly. We moved away from the elevator, she tried to calm me down, gave me some water to drink. Fifteen minutes dragged on forever.

-Are you okay? – my friend asked me, and I did not know what to answer.

We went to the office, I drank tea and calmed down. I was very upset, not even because I had a panic, but because the people stuck with me could not support each other. I did not feel any unity and help at that moment. Everyone thought only of themselves.

Since then, I have very rarely used the elevator. I try to ride it in the rarest cases. And then suddenly he will get stuck again, and around me there will be the same people as this time. I will try to take care of myself as much as possible.

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