A teenager has told how she was forced to escape from the Mayo Clinic after doctors 'refused' to discharge or transfer her and tried to take guardianship of her against her will following a brain surgery last year.

Alyssa Gilderhus, now 19, was a high school senior and 18-years-old when she was admitted to the world renowned hospital's Minnesota facility on Christmas Day, 2016.

She had suffered a brain aneurysm and required emergency surgery to save her life.

After neurosurgeons performed the procedure, Alyssa was transferred to the hospital's rehabilitation unit where she spent three weeks.

Over the course of those three weeks, her parents butted heads with doctors who she says were 'cruel' to her and did not listen to her needs.

Scroll down for video

Alyssa Gilderhus is shown being wheeled out of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on February 28 by her stepfather after telling staff she was going outside to meet her grandmother

Alyssa had been at the hospital since Christmas Day and was desperate to get out but staff had stopped listening to her parents and 'ignored' her pleas to be transferred, she said

Alyssa and her family drove for 12 hours to South Dakota where they got a second opinion from doctors who supported their belief that she was ready to go home and was able to make her own decisions. By then, the Mayo Clinic had called 911 and the police were looking for the family

By the end of her time there, the hospital had excluded her mother from conversations about her care and had asked the county to take guardianship of her claiming that though she was 18, she was not mentally competent to make her own medical decisions.

On February 28, 2017, she left the hospital after her parents pretended to be wheeling her into the parking lot to meet her elderly grandmother.

She could not get out on her own because she could not walk out and the hospital had put her under the constant watch of nurses.

The family filmed a video of the February 28 escape which shows Alyssa climbing in to the passenger seat of the family's car with her mother Amber at the wheel.

For the next 12 hours, the family was on the run from Minnesota authorities which the hospital had alerted after they fled.

Before: Alyssa is pictured before she suffered a brain aneurysm on Christmas Day, 2016

It was not until they got to a different state and found the opinion of a second doctor who disagreed with what the Mayo Clinic specialists had said that the family were free to go home.

Now, more than a year later, the family has decided to speak out by telling their story to CNN. They are not suing the hospital but are in talks with a lawyer.

The Mayo Clinic has hit back at the story that was published this week, claiming CNN 'knew' of a fuller context but chose not to include it in its reporting.

It is standing by the practices of its doctors who they believe acted ethically.

On December 25, Alyssa was admitted to the hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm.

The problems arose in the rehabilitation unit of the facility. Among the earliest disagreements between Alyssa's parents and her doctors was the decision by staff that she should not be given oxycodone, a powerful pain killer, a few days after her fourth surgery of the month.

Her father said it was too soon. 'She'd lay in bed with tears coming out of her eyes because she was in so much pain,' Duane Engebretson, her stepfather, said.

Others included their belief that Alyssa's feeding tube was not the right size. They also say that doctors failed to notice she had a bladder infection.

On February 21, Alyssa's mother asked for her doctor to be replaced. The next day, she asked for a nursing aide to be replaced.

After the aneurysm on December 25, the then 18-year-old had to undergo four operations in a month

Alyssa (pictured with her younger sister) spent three weeks in the rehabilitation unit of the hospital until she escaped on February 28, 2017

They say they had already asked repeatedly for her to be transferred but were either ignored or told no.

On February 22, Amber was thrown out of the hospital after barging in on a meeting between a doctor and a social worker who were discussing her daughter's care.

She claims she was told afterwards that she was not allowed to 'participate' in her daughter's care anymore.

Over the next week, the family says Alyssa had her phone confiscated after she made a video for her mother.

The hospital, they say, started refusing her other relatives when they wanted to spend the night and Alyssa was put under the constant supervision of two nurses.

The family wanted to remove her but because she could not walk, they could not do so without causing a physical scene.

On February 28, Duane convinced staff that Alyssa's grandmother was in the parking lot.

Alyssa's mother Amber Engebreston and her husband Duane say they were excluded from decisions about her care after they questioned doctors at the hospital. They believe they were being punished by the facility for daring to question its decisions but say they stand by their doubts

Alyssa, now 19, says it felt 'phenomenal' to escape from the hospital where she says doctors and nurses were 'cruel' to her

The Mayo Clinic would not go into detail when addressing the family's allegations but said its doctors believed they were acting in the best interest of the patient all along

The nurses agreed then to let her go into her chair and they accompanied her as she was wheeled outside.

Once in the parking lot and next to the car, he lifted Alyssa out of her chair despite the nurses' protestations.

'Don't you touch my daughter,' he can be heard saying in a clip of the escape as Alyssa's mother, Amber, tells her soothingly: 'Come on honey, we're going home.'

A nurse attempted to intervene and yelled: 'No!'

Once they had left the hospital, the nurses called 911. They explained to police that the hospital was in the process of trying to obtain county guardianship for her and said they had concerns about her health.

They said that Alyssa would die if she went too long without medication or care.

They said she was at risk of 'pneumonia, malnourishment, dehydration, aspiration, infection and falling.'

Police launched a manhunt and got in touch with the family via their cell phones. Officers pleaded with Duane to bring Alyssa back to hospital.

Alyssa returned to high school later in 2017 and was crowned prom queen. She is now preparing to go to college

Afraid that she would be sent back to The Mayo Clinic, the family kept on driving.

Twelve hours after removing her, the family arrived at an ER in South Dakota where not only did doctors determine that she was able to make her own decisions, they disagreed with the claim that she had to be in hospital.

Satisfied with their second opinion, the family returned home and explained to police that the other doctors did not agree with the Mayo Clinic.

More than a year later, Alyssa has graduated from high school and is preparing to go to college.

She said she was desperate to escape and that when she did, it felt like a 'weight' had been lifted. She said it felt 'phenomenal'.

In a statement to DailyMail.com on Monday, The Mayo Clinic hit back at the family's claims and CNN's presentation of them.

The hospital's statement is as follows:

'Patient safety is always our highest priority, and it is at the forefront of the care we deliver to each patient. We are unwavering in our dedication to do what is best for every patient, every time.

'This patient’s case was no exception. This case was escalated to the highest level of leadership, and the care team worked with this family on a daily basis to listen to them and resolve their concerns. The same care and level of professionalism that this patient experienced during her surgery were also part of her post-surgery experience. This was a very complex situation with very challenging dynamics.

We provided lifesaving care for this patient and made decisions based on what we felt is best for the future of this patient The Mayo Clinic

'Following a thorough and careful review of the care in question, we have determined that the version of events provided by certain patient family members to CNN are not supported by the facts nor do they track with the direct observations of numerous other providers on the patient’s care team.

'Our internal review determined that the care team’s actions were true to Mayo Clinic’s primary value that the patient’s needs come first. We acted in a manner that honored that value for this patient and that also took into account the safety and well-being of the team caring for the patient.

'This story lacks further clarification and context that CNN knew but chose not to use.

'While we will not discuss specific patients or their families, many who seek Mayo Clinic’s care can also be dealing with significant emotional and family dynamic complications which can be challenging in an already complex medical situation.

'We provided lifesaving care for this patient and made decisions based on what we felt is best for the future of this patient.'

