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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Kaitlin Easton & John Gillespie

East Lothian urban explorers find creepy doll with bleeding eyes in abandoned hospital

A creepy looking doll with purple bleeding eyes has been found inside an abandoned East Lothian Hospital which once used to treat Tuberculosis patients.

East Fortune Hospital shut its doors in 1997 and has remained abandoned ever since. The inside of the derelict building has now been captured on camera by 26-year-old urban explorer Kyle Urbex.

Eerie photographs show discarded beds inside the hospital, as the ceiling caves in above them.

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Amon the mess is a blonde haired doll that has been drawn on so it appears to have purple, bleeding eyes. A patterned jumper, still on a coat hanger, can be seen on the ground among the debris while various pages from a magazine are still scattered across one room.

Metal bed frames spread out across the hospital and some beds with mattresses remain in what appears to be an old ward. The paint inside is peeling off and some of the windows have been boarded up.

The derelict building is covered in graffiti, with one wall covered in red and white spray paint stating "Trump is not my president".

He told the Record : "Although the building was fire damaged it still had an eerie feeling when I stepped inside.

"Like any former hospital, it can be creepy exploring it alone.

"Nothing was to prepare me for the creepy doll I came across with its eyes spray painted in a deep dark purple. It was most certainly the creepiest thing I would expect to find in a decaying hospital.

"One of the wards had old bed frames and a jumper was lying on the floor which I can only imagine belonged to a former patient.

"The next building I ventured into was the main hospital building where the beds were still intact and the chairs next to them where family of two relatives would have sat during visiting their loved ones.

"I spent two hours inside. I was definitely put it near the top of my growing list of explorations in Scotland."

Until the Second World War, the hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium for patients in the South East of Scotland. When the local airfield was brought back into use during the war, patients were transferred to Bangour Hospital in West Lothian.

The establishment became an RAF base while it was also used as a military hospital to treat civilian casualties. It reopened after the war but later housed people with mental health issues when the number of tuberculosis patients began to fall.

When the hospital closed in 1997, may items including hospital equipment and furniture were left behind to rot as the remaining patients were transferred to Roodlands hospital in Haddington.

Police Scotland were forced to release a warning in 2017 as a number of youngsters were entering the derelict building that is believed to contain asbestos and poses other safety concerns due to hazardous material.

Photographer Kyle Urbex explores abandoned buildings across the UK and documents his travels on his Instagram page.

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