St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto is investigating a complaint that some of its security guards severely beat a man who was visiting a relative.

The man and his wife, who are aboriginal, allege the guards also shouted racial slurs during the attack.

Cliff Hussin, 36, says he has alcohol problems, but that "doesn't give them the right to do what they did."

Hussin admits that he and his wife Donna Oakes were loud and drunk when they visited his cousin at St. Michael's Hospital on Feb. 4. The trouble started after they were told to leave.

"They [security guards] started getting a little abusive to, like, Donna. They were grabbing her and telling her — telling us — 'you natives are nothing but trouble' and that we were drunks and will never amount to anything. It was horrible," said Hussin,

Oakes said her husband was kicked unconscious by security guards and then dragged outside by his hair.

"Just him, outside in the cold. He was lucky I was there. He could have died," said Oakes.

The couple said they were taken home by police, but returned to St. Mike's a few hours later in an ambulance because Hussin was in excruciating pain.

Hussin claims the doctor in emergency discharged him without doing any tests.

The next morning a nurse at an aboriginal health clinic sent Hussin in a cab to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was diagnosed with three broken ribs and a punctured lung.

"I think the reason why my lung got punctured [was] because of the force from their boots onto my ribs," said Hussin.

He was transferred to Toronto General Hospital where he remained for three days while doctors drained blood from his chest.

Hussin and his wife said they want the security guards who attacked him fired.

In a three-sentence statement sent to CBC News, St. Michael's would only say "the hospital is investigating."