A woman has spoken out after suffering an electric shock from an automated parking ticket dispenser at a popular shopping mall, which saw her in and out of hospital for several days and unable to work.
She later discovered she was not the first to suffer at the same machine.
The woman, who posted her account on Facebook, said the incident occurred in a mall carpark on June 10 when she reached out of her car to collect a ticket at the automated barrier.
She said she did not physically touch the machine, merely moving her hand in front of the sensor. “Before I even touched the machine, I felt a sharp electric jolt. My arm went numb and a pain shot up to my head and down to my legs,” she wrote.
The machine issued the parking ticket, but the barrier failed to lift.
With no staff in sight, she repeatedly honked her car horn for help. She feared using the emergency button on the machine because she might get another shock.
When a staff member finally arrived, she said, they showed little concern for her condition, merely raising the barrier without offering assistance. She then parked and hurried to customer service in the adjoining supermarket.
By this point she had lost all sensation on one side of her body.
Staff directed her to the mall’s first-aid room where she was treated with cold gel packs, but her symptoms failed to improve. Her condition worsened, with her arm too weak to lift, and she was eventually taken to a hospital affiliated with the mall.
Despite her symptoms, including severe numbness, the attending doctor discharged her after an ECG and blood tests returned normal results. “I couldn’t even sign the discharge papers. I asked for medication, but the doctor told me it was probably just a pinched nerve and that it would pass,” she wrote.
That night, her condition deteriorated further. Her hand trembled, she was unable to sleep, and she experienced sharp pain radiating to her head. Although desperate to call for an ambulance, she chose not to wake her family and endured the night in agony.
The following morning, she drove herself to a different hospital, no longer trusting the first, despite her blurred vision caused by a flare-up of corneal inflammation due to stress and a weakened immune system. She collapsed upon arrival and was rushed to the emergency department, where she was given a strong painkiller and passed out shortly afterward.
Later that day, a mall representative contacted her, claiming the hospital she visited was not covered under the mall’s insurance policy and that while expenses might be reimbursed, she would need to submit the documentation in person.
“They said they’d call at 10am to check on me. No one did. When they finally did get in touch, it was just to say I needed to walk the documents in myself,” she wrote.
Adding to her distress, she later found out that she was not the first to be shocked by the same machine. A friend recalled seeing smoke coming from it on a previous occasion.
The woman said she continues to suffer from intermittent blackouts, persistent headaches and exhaustion, rendering her unable to work. She has been forced to abandon two major design tenders she had spent months preparing. “I can’t eat. I can’t sleep without medication. My life is falling apart,” she said.
She said friends have urged her to file a formal complaint and pursue legal action. She was waiting until she regained her strength and clarity.