On 27 December 2009 our 21 year old daughter Michelle passed away from what we are told by the doctors was cardiac arrest. As the hospital did not know what caused the cardiac arrest and foul play could not be ruled out, her body was forwarded to the State mortuary for an autopsy. The autopsy could not determine the cause of the cardiac arrest (i am not sure how qualified the doctors at the state mortuary are) and they called for a toxicology report from the State laboratory which are years behind and we have not yet received the outcome of this report. We do know that the hospital did blood tests for all known drugs and that this all came out clear. We also know that Michelle did not use any drugs but she did smoke cigarettes and used alcohol from time to time as most youngsters do. She also suffered from Asthma and used and Asthma pump occasionally.
On Saturday evening 26 December 2009 at 21h00 she went out to an up market local pub which is frequented by students (18 to 23 year old). We do know that she had quite a few drinks (blood alcohol level 0.13). Although she was tiny she was known to be able to hold her liquor and remain "sober" in terms of her co-ordination etc. (she never ever appeared visibly drunk). Michelle also had a VERY HIGH PAIN THRESHOLD. We also know that she was initially emotionally upset because a friend that was supposed to meet her there did not pitch. We also know that she then spend time with two male acquaintances and they seemed to be happily chatting away. One asked her for a lift home.
At 02h00 she phoned us to say that she is an agony with chest pain (her chest was burning and the pain was of such that she was crying which meant that it needed to be high in view of her high pain threshold) and that she is coming home. She drove herself home, her co-ordination and speech seemed perfect. We got her to hospital by 02h20. She was in pain but fully conscious and alert. She could recite her identity number with ease to the admission people. They did not seem too perturbed that anything major was wrong with her and took their time in admitting her. Just before 02h30 she fell unconscious (we are told she had a cardiac arrest) and all hell broke lose. The paramedics and nurses on duty screamed for the doctor on duty and they chased my wife out of the emergency ward. We don't know how long it took for the doctor to arrive but it could have been anything from 2 to 5 minutes? What we do know is that they could never revive Michelle despite using everything (including the "shock machines") at their disposal. After 105 minutes they gave up. All we know is that she was still breathing at 03h00 but "that her organs were shutting down all the time".The hospital told us no more.
The police suspect foul play despite the fact that Michelle did not appear drugged. She was not drowsy and her co-ordination and senses seemed near perfect. The police cannot act until such time that the toxicology results are out.
Lastly we must mention that just over a year before she passed away Michelle was involved in quite a serious car accident where she picked up concussion (she was unconscious) and bruising of her chest. She was in ICU for 2 days and in the general ward for a further 2 days before they released her. During admission the doctor on duty at the emergency ward asked us whether she has any heart problems as he picked up an "irregular heart beat" As the hospital did not raise this again during the duration of her stay we did not think about it again.
Given the above information is there any possible plausible explanation that could have caused Michelle's death?
Chris & Arlene van der Merwe
Johannesburg
South Africa
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