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An English mother who was pronounced dead after suffering a seizure suddenly woke up while in the morgue without any medical care, the Telegraph reports.
Olive Martin, 54, reportedly collapsed at her home on October 13, 2023 and was declared dead by paramedics after suffering the medical emergency, according to a Crook Coroners Court hearing that took place on Tuesday (December 2). Martin was transported to Darlington Hospital Mortuary, at which point staffers noticed signs of life prior to her suddenly waking up before ultimately dying "some time later" due to brain damage, Coroner Jeremy Chipperfield told the court.
“The difficulty we face is that we don’t know how long she was there,” Chipperfield said via the Northern Echo. “We don’t know how long she had been without oxygen to her brain at that point.”
Attorney Tom Barclay Semple, who is representing Martin's family, claims that she received "no treatment at all," arguing that the "outcome could have been different" if a doctor had been called within the crucial two-hour window.
“If Olive had been treated in the way she should have and taken to hospital, would the outcome have been different?” Attorney Tom Barclay-Semple asked the court. “There is a credible argument to say there was a window of opportunity where Olive received no treatment at all. It was clear that there was a real and immediate risk to her life. [Her life] was in the hands of paramedics.”
A police investigation into Martin's death that took place last year resulted in no criminal charges being filed and the court hearing will resume on January 30.