A 17-year-old schoolgirl lay dead on her bedroom floor for nearly ten hours while police officers and paramedics argued over who should remove her body, her mother has said. Lucy Grant died on 15 April after suffering a seizure at her home in Johnstone, Scotland. Paramedics arrived to find her 'blue and quite stiff' and declared her dead, but instead of respectfully moving her, a dispute broke out over whether she should be treated as an adult or a child.
Her mother, Lynette Anderson, 44, said she was left screaming and crying in the garden, collapsing to her knees in distress. She described watching paramedics and police 'standing in the street fighting' in front of neighbours during 'the worst moment of my life'. Lynette was also prevented from cleaning her daughter's face when fluid began to leak from her nose and mouth. She spent most of the time lying on the floor outside Lucy's bedroom.
The argument lasted nine and a half hours, ending only when a senior detective arrived and immediately called for a private ambulance. Lucy's body was finally taken away. Police visited the family the next day to apologise and announced an investigation into the handling of the incident.
Lynette had been battling the NHS for a year to get Lucy, an aspiring beautician, treated for epilepsy after she suffered 60 seizures in 12 months. She had managed to bring forward a hospital appointment to later this month, but instead Lucy will undergo a post-mortem. Writing on Facebook, Lynette said: 'My baby girl lay dead on her bedroom floor for 9.5 hours whilst the ambulance service fought with CID over who was responsible for her.'
The Scottish Ambulance Service expressed condolences and said it is reviewing the incident alongside Police Scotland. A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed officers attended the address on 15 April and that the death is being treated as unexplained, but there are no suspicious circumstances. A GoFundMe page has been set up by friends to give Lucy 'the best send off she deserves'.
