Family demands answers after woman discharged from New York City hospital, collapses

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Two daughters are demanding answers after their mother walked out of a medical facility in Manhattan only to end up in the intensive care unit at another hospital days later.

It began when 58-year-old Maria Dearmas went missing, leading to a terrifying few days for her family.

They finally found their ailing mom at New York Presbyterian after learning that it was another hospital that had let her leave alone and without contacting anyone. And that's when the real questions began.

"It was a true nightmare," daughter Marines Barzaga said. "A true nightmare."

And it was a two-fold nightmare, seeing Darmas in the ICU after not knowing where she had been for three days.

"It was an image nobody should see," daughter Monica Dearmas said. "It was horrible."

Their mother was rushed to New York Presbyterian after someone found her lying on the street on November 1. She was bleeding internally and underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer. But for the sisters, the issue is how she ended up there in the first place.

Maria Dearmas was at her apartment in East Harlem when she began experiencing stomach pain and was taken to Metropolitan Hospital. But before her daughters could get there, she was discharged.

"I just can't get over the fact that Metropolitan was very negligent," Monica Dearmas said. "The fact that they let her go like that."

The family says Dearmas should have never been released because of the seriousness of her condition, as well as her documented psychiatric history at Metropolitan, which includes treatment for schizophrenia and dementia.

"Someone needs to be with her," Barzaga said. "Someone needs to tell her what's right from wrong. And it was pretty unfair that we got no answers."

Maria Dearmas remains in critical condition at the hospital.