Beth Martin, 28, from Portsmouth died after picking up a mysterious illness while on holiday in Turkey and her family are demanding answers after a post mortem found her heart missing
A mum’s body has been returned to the UK with her heart still missing after dying from mystery illness while on holiday.
Beth Martin’s family are demanding answers after the mum-of-two died in strange circumstances in Turkey and a post-mortem revealed that her heart was missing. Her body was brought back to this country and the organ is still not with it, while her family are complaining about being kept in the dark.
The 28-year-old, from Portsmouth, fell ill while on a flight to Istanbul. She was with her husband Luke at the time and she had reportedly put her sickness down to food poisoning.
But then Beth’s situation deteriorated and she began feeling ‘delirious’ within hours of touching down in Turkey’s largest city. She was eventually rushed to Marmara University Pendik Training and Research Hospital when her condition worsened.
Beth died on Tuesday, April 29, shortly after she was admitted to the hospital. It has been reported that her family claimed they were not informed about the seriousness of her condition and had suggested doctors were unaware that Beth was allergic to penicillin.
Luke was initially accused of ‘poisoning’ his wife by Turkish police but has since been released. Turkish Ministry of Health officials revealed Beth died after a ‘cardiac arrest due to multiple organ failure’ – but stopped short at explaining the exact cause of this.
Shockingly, a post mortem examination back home revealed her heart had been removed from her body.
Turkish officials claimed Beth “did not undergo any surgical procedures during her treatment at the hospital” and there there “was no question of any organs being removed”.
Her family now have an agonising and uncertain six months ahead as they’re forced to wait for a coroner’s inquest to be held into the exact cause of Beth’s death.
More than £250,000 has been raised for Beth’s family after a Go Fund Me page was set up to support her loved ones.
Friend Robert Hammond, who set up the page, said: “Please can we just thank everyone for taking the time to read this and any help you can offer is not too little.”
It stated on May 6: “The children and family flew home on the Sunday. Luke stayed a few days more to fly home beside his wife. On Tuesday, they landed together Back Home. In the weeks since bringing Beth home the family is battered and bruised. Everyone is a shell of themselves and no one knows how to even begin to recover from something so horrific.. yet still — it gets worse.
“The UK autopsy began. And then the final blow: Beth’s heart was missing. The Turkish hospital has removed it. No explanation. No consent. They have invaded her body and they have TAKEN her heart. Her heart. The piece of Beth that was more treasured more than any other.
“The piece of her that stopped for a moment when she heard her children’s first words. The piece of her that skipped a beat when she said ‘I do’ at her wedding. The piece of her that pumped viscously with pride whenever she was with her family.”