Early Sunday afternoon, as the Montreal Alouettes were taking on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium​, David van Frank was trying to take his very ill father to Royal Victoria Hospital's emergency room.

We were scared that my father was going to die in the car. - David van Frank

"We went down to Sherbrooke (Street), we passed by University (Street) and there, there were the first two policemen blocking the road at University," van Frank said.

He said he tried flagging them over to the car so that they would let him pass the blockade.

He said they couldn't let van Frank pass, but they could call an ambulance for his father, who was in cardiac distress.

According to Montreal Police, access to the hospital during football games is limited to emergency vehicles and they must use Park Avenue.

Van Frank, whose car was just down the block from the hospital, refused the offer, insisting he drive right up to the emergency to save time. "I said, 'We have no time to call an ambulance,'" he said.

He said the police officer told him, "Well if you don't want an ambulance then it's not an emergency."

"We were scared that my father was going to die in the car," van Frank said.

He took an alternate route, coming within eyesight of the hospital's emergency entrance. However, access there was also blocked.

Van Frank said a fourth police officer again offered to call an ambulance.

Seeing that it was the only option to get his father immediate care, he agreed. He said they waited between 10 and 15 minutes before a fifth officer flagged them through the barricade and up to the emergency entrance.

His father survived, but van Frank said he is quite ill. He couldn't say whether the delay in care contributed to his condition, "But it didn't help."

Off-limits during football games: 'Unbelievable'

Van Frank reached out to CBC News to talk about the ordeal, in the hope that it would change the policy around accessing the hospital during football games.

“Because of a football game, they block the entrance to emergency of a major hospital? That’s unbelievable," he said.

Patients' rights advocate Paul Brunet said what happened to van Frank is unacceptable.

"This is what we call bureaucracy. No judgment — zero," Brunet said.

The Royal Victoria Hospital issued a statement to CBC News saying that the MUHC and members of the Montreal police meet at the beginning of each football season to "ensure proper management and logistics of the traffic circulation during Alouettes games."

Its spokesperson declined to comment further, deferring to the Montreal police.

Commander Stéphane Plourde is in charge of the police district responsible for the area around the Royal Victoria hospital. He told CBC News that the protocol is to close the part of Pine Avenue which runs along the hospital during Alouettes games. Access is only granted to emergency vehicles. Plourde said officials will investigate the situation in light of this incident and see if the protocol can be improved.