What we know about British mum whose ‘heart went missing’ as medical report rules death as food poisoning
A British mum’s ‘heart went missing’ after her mysterious death in Turkey, and the world watched on in shock.
Less than two months ago, Beth Martin was heading on a family holiday with her husband Luke and their two young children in Turkey when she began to feel ill during the flight.
The mum struggled to sleep and became 'delirious' by the next morning, leading to her husband to call for an ambulance, which took her to a hospital as her husband followed behind in an ambulance.
However, from there, horror after horror is alleged to have happened, culminating in Beth sadly dying on 29 April, with an autopsy report in the UK finding that her heart had been removed after her death.
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Since then, a new medical report has been released by Turkey, describing her cause of death.
A family trip that soon turned tragic
Beth and Luke travelled to Turkey with their two young, but tragedy struck when the 28-year-old mum was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
What allegedly followed was described as 'negligence' and a 'lack of respect' towards Beth, as sources claim that paramedics failed to inform doctors of her allergy to penicillin, and banned family from seeing her in hospital.
Luke, Beth’s family, and friends, had travelled out to support him, but were told one day later that she had died.
The family were unsure of the cause of death and were told she had problems with her heart before being transferred to another facility.
A friend of the couple, Ellie Grey, claimed she travelled to Turkey to be with Luke when Beth passed away, but made bombshell claims regarding the level of care Beth received.
In a Facebook video, she said: "There have been so many things that went wrong. So much negligence, so much corruption between the hospitals, the police, the prosecution. And then we find out, even after I gave explicit consent, as did Luke, that they do not touch any of her organs, we find out that when we get back to the UK that they have stolen her heart. Which is very odd, because they claimed she had a heart problem. She didn't, but that's what they claimed."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family financially and emotionally during this time.
Ellie alleged that hospital staff informed Luke that his wife had died, and asked for a significant bill, before allowing them to see her body for what she described as '20 seconds'.
They then had to carry Beth's body in a body bag through the hospital, with the help of a translator, before putting her in a coffin.
She claimed the hospital wanted to 'bury and cremate her' the next day, until the family fought to have her body taken back to the UK, where an autopsy revealed that her heart was missing.
What happened to Beth Martin's heart?
Turkey’s health ministry denied accusations that it stole Beth’s heart, with medical staff claiming there had been 'concerns with her heart'.
The Turkish health ministry then revealed that Beth's 'cardiac arrest was due to multiple organ failure'.
Coroners in Turkey couldn’t identify a sure cause of death, leading to prosecutors requesting an autopsy of Beth’s heart by the Forensic Medicine Institute.
The examination report, which has now been released, found that there was no medical evidence to prove that Beth had died from ‘traumatic effects’.
As per AA, the report said: “It was concluded that Martin’s death occurred as a result of food poisoning and its complications.”
It added that her whole heart had been examined and that all tissue samples of the heart and other organs will be sent to the company appointed by the British Consulate General in Istanbul.
It also reported that the arteries of Beth's 350g heart were open 'and no old or new obvious findings that could have caused were deserved'.
The report said that her heart was heavier than expected, so it was then removed and kept in a solution of 10 per cent formaldehyde for seven days before testing began.
This was allegedly done as to detect congenital anomalies in Beth's 'heart vessels, heart muscle diseases at the cellular level, electrical activity of the heart, rhythm disorders, heart valve diseases, abnormalities in the heart muscles that are not normally expected, and inflammatory diseases of the heart'.
Turkish officials’ initial statement
Turkish health officials released a statement at the time claimed that they operated above board.
As reported by The Sun, it said: "The patient was recorded in the hospital records as a ‘forensic case’ in line with the statement of Martin’s wife that they may have been poisoned by a meal they ate in their country before the trip, and the initial findings."
They added: "A preliminary autopsy [without incision] was performed at the hospital in accordance with the forensic case procedure and his wife’s request in this regard.
"The exact cause of Martin’s death could not be determined with the current findings in the preliminary autopsy, which was carried out with the participation of the Public Prosecutor and the forensic medicine doctor."
The ministry claimed that Beth 'did not undergo any surgical procedures during her treatment at the hospital, and there was no question of any organs being removed'.
Britt Jones