Carla Marie Longshaw, an AstraZeneca scientist from Stoke-on-Trent, died days before Christmas after her flight to the Dominican Republic was forced to divert to Puerto Rico
A scientist who died after falling ill on a flight to the Caribbean with her 12-year-old son days before Christmas had a rare undiagnosed heart condition.
Carla Marie Longshaw, 39, was flying to the Dominican Republic for the festive period when the plane had to be diverted to Puerto Rico, but she couldn’t be saved. An inquest into her death heard that the mum, from Sandyford, Stoke-on-Trent, had been in hospital after suffering from low potassium levels.
A coroner heard how Carla, who worked for AstraZeneca in Macclesfield, Cheshire, had previously collapsed in front of colleagues. A statement from her father detailed how she had fainted at work on September 30 last year, and was taken to Macclesfield Hospital. It comes after the NHS warns mouth symptom could be life-shortening disease.
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She was discharged on October 2 and was prescribed antibiotics after being given ‘apparently eight litres of potassium at 250ml per hour, as well as sodium chloride, vitamins and saline’. Carla attended a follow-up consultation the following morning where her potassium levels were still low.
But Sanjeev Srivastava, a consultant acute physician for the East Cheshire NHS Trust, told Cheshire Coroner’s Court that Carla had an undiagnosed underlying coronary anomaly which caused her death just over two months later.
He said: “Right coronary artery double ostium is a conjunction condition that’s usually benign. It is only diagnosed in the later stage of life such as if someone has a heart attack and medical professionals can’t push the wire into the coronary artery and then realise there’s double ostium.
“Otherwise there’s no way of knowing someone has it. No other investigation can confirm this. This is a rare biological condition she’s been born with.”
Assistant Coroner Elizabeth Wheeler said that there were ‘no gaps in care’ that could have caused or contributed to Carla’s death. She added: “Ultimately, what we have here is the absolutely tragic death of a young woman on a flight where she had an underlying cardiac condition that she would have had no idea was there because it is not routinely tested for.
“There is no connection between Carla’s attendance at hospital. This was an acute condition that was resolved at the time. Carla Marie Longshaw died as a result of sudden cardiac death associated to the right coronary artery double ostium. She died on December 23 2024 at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport.
“She died as a result of an underlying undiagnosed cardiac condition, and as a result I find her death was caused by natural causes.” A relative told the Daily Mail the family still had questions they needed answers to her care in the weeks leading up to her death.
The family member, who the publication say did not wish to be identified, said: “When the medical authorities in Puerto Rico got in touch asking for her medical history it turned out that her GP practice had nothing on file about her stay in Macclesfield in October. It was not on file and there has been no explanation for that.”