A 21-year veteran nurse was left in critical condition after a patient placed on an involuntary mental health hold brutally attacked her within inches of her life while inside a Florida hospital.

Leela Lal, 67, was preforming her usual duties as a nurse on the third floor of the HCA Florida Palms West Hospital last week when a patient jumped on her and senselessly beat her, leaving her with life-altering head trauma amid dozens of other injuries.

The suspect, 33-year-old Steven Scantlebury of Wellington, appeared silently in court this week on a second-degree attempted murder charge and a hate crime enhancement, WPTV 5 reported.

'I was beside myself,' Cindy Joseph, Lal's daughter, said. 'When I saw her, it was a lot worse than I imagined.'

'She had bruises in both eyes, her right eye was so swollen, she couldn't open it,' she added. 'She was unconscious, intubated and not responding.' 

Scantlebury was a Baker Act patient under Florida law - one who is admitted involuntarily for a 72-hour psychiatric mental health hold as they are believed to be a danger to themselves or others, Fox 19 reported.

However, instead of going to a Baker Act facility, the suspect had voluntarily checked himself into Palms West hospital where he was then admitted to the third floor of an unsecured patient room.

Police said that while he was undergoing telemetry with Lal, he leaped out of his bed, jumped on her and brutally beat her before running barefoot out of the hospital.

'I got a call from my mom's phone, but when I answered the phone call it was a man's voice,' Joseph told WPTV. 'I started freaking out because I knew something bad had happened.'

After the horrific attack, Lal had to be airlifted by helicopter to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach where she was required ICU level care upon arrival.

'Essentially, every bone in the victim's face is broken and the victim is likely to lose the use of both of her eyes,' the affidavit states. Doctors also found brain bleeds.

Officers later found and arrested Scantlebury after he was spotted running barefoot along a busy highway.

While recalling the night of the incident, Joseph feared that she'd lose her mother completely as she remembered seeing her in critical condition while in the hospital bed.

'I was just really sad and really angry that this happened to her at work, where she should be safe, where she's given her life to this hospital for twenty plus years,' she said. 'I expected them to give her the correct protections she needed.' 

Scantlebury's defense believe that he had been acting paranoid for a few days and ultimately checked himself into Palms West with chest pains, all before he was determined to be a mental health hold, Fox 19 reported. 

Yet as Lal still remains critical in the hospital with plans for multiple facial reconstructive surgeries, the family is questioning why Scantlebury was brought to their mother's hospital unit in the first place.  

Investigators also told the family that the hospital room where the attack took place didn't have any cameras inside, leaving Lal's loved ones wondering why that was the case, WPTV reported.

'I'm just so mad at the situation and saddened. My mom is everything to me, she is my biggest supporter and always there for me,' Joseph told the outlet.

'I can't imagine my life without her, and this is not fair to her,' she added. 'She is 67 years old, she could have retired a long time ago but she chose to be a nurse and to keep caring for patients.' 

Lal's loved ones have also raised concerns about the hospital, as they believe warning signs were ignored that could have prevented the tragic outcome.

'I read that he was acting delusional in the days leading up to the attack,' Joseph told WPBF News. 'Those would have been flags for people to step in or maybe add security before this incident happened. It was preventable, for sure.' 

Dr. Carol Milliken, president of the Florida Emergency Nurses Association, explained that nurses in Baker Act facilities must undergo hands-on training to be able to manage psychiatric patient care, according to WPTV.

On the other hand, nurses in other medical settings receive broader psychiatric training online in a module that covers several areas of care.

'The knowledge and ability to care for these patients is different than it is in a receiving facility,' Milliken told the outlet.

'If the patient was held in a facility and they were not receiving treatment for mental illness - and that person was paranoid or psychotic and believe that they were in danger and fighting for their lives as they harm that nurse - shame on us for not providing the care that was needed.'

In a bombshell twist, WPBF 25 obtained the 911 call made from inside the facility on the night of the attack. In the recording, the hospital's executive appeared to be more concerned about the attacker, rather than the unconscious nurse in the room. 

'You said they assaulted the employee until they passed out?' the 911 operator asked the executive, who made the phone call.

'Yeah... unconscious. I'm not worried about that part. I need the Baker Act dealt with,' the Palms West employee responded. 

Later on in the conversation, the CEO said: 'This could be nearly a fatality,' WPTV reported.

'I was furious,' Joseph told WPBF. 'She gave everything to that hospital. And to hear this, whoever it was on the recording, say that they didn't care about her? That hit me in a way I can't describe.' 

According to The Palm Beach Post, Scantlebury told investigators after the attack that he believed someone had killed his family as he spoke poorly about people of Indian descent.

The day before the near-death assault, he had called 911 to say he had been feeling paranoid. He and his family then met with deputies at a Dunkin Donuts near their home, but they did not force him to seek any mental health help. 

On Tuesday, Scantlebury appeared before a Palm Beach County judge for the first time since his arrest where he kept his head down for the entirety of the four-minute hearing, Fox 29 reported.

Megan Scantlebury, the wife of the accused, testified at the hearing that he was a loving father and husband who had worked for his family's construction business for 20 years.

She also testified that her husband had never displayed any warning signs of aggression towards her or those around him until two days before the attack, when he began showing signs of paranoia and hallucinations - behaviors she said 'followed a car crash.' 

Scantlebury pleaded not guilty on Tuesday during the court appearance. The judge denied his lawyer's motion that he be released on $125,000 bond, placed on house arrest and then taken to a treatment facility.

'Stephen is a hardworking, loving husband, father, and son. Mental illness does not discriminate, and we know that what happened was a product of a mental health crisis,' his attorney's statement read, according to WPTV. 

Last week's devastating attack has hit close to home for other healthcare workers, as nurses in West Palm Beach rallied together to demand better security within their jobs, WPBF reported.

At a protest that took place on Sunday, demonstrators sang 'We are the world. We are the nurses,' in solidarity. 

Scantlebury is being held without bail at the county jail. A pretrial detention hearing during Thursday's hearing is set to take place after a judge granted the state's request.