A coroner has heard the shocking case of a woman who was mistakenly declared dead at her home, only to be discovered alive later in a hospital mortuary.
A Tragic Sequence of Errors
Olive Martin, 54, suffered a seizure at her home on 13 October 2024. Police, paramedics, and family members attended the address. However, instead of being transported to an emergency department for urgent medical care, Ms Martin was taken directly to the mortuary at Darlington Hospital.
It was there that mortuary staff made the horrifying discovery that she was still alive. The inquest, held at Crook Coroner's Court, is now examining the circumstances that led to this catastrophic failure and whether her eventual death could have been prevented.
Critical Questions Over Treatment and Timing
Tom Barclay Semple, the legal representative for Ms Martin's family, told the court there was a period of approximately two hours where she received "no treatment at all". He posed a central question to the hearing: would the outcome have been different if she had been taken straight to hospital rather than to the mortuary?
"What should that treatment have looked like?" Mr Barclay Semple asked. "Could her death have been avoided or prolonged in some meaningful way?" He argued that these questions should be answered by an expert witness from emergency or intensive care medicine.
In an attempt to establish a timeline, Mr Barclay Semple noted that when Ms Martin was found in her kitchen, she had put toast in her toaster on a day she was expected to go to work. He suggested it might be possible to extrapolate the timing of her seizure from this detail, and also by working backwards from her body temperature recorded later.
Official Responses and the Ongoing Inquest
Coroner Jeremy Chipperfield stated that the cause of Ms Martin's death, which occurred "albeit some time later," was brain damage. He confirmed to the court that he did not know precisely how long she had been starved of oxygen when initially found.
Representatives for the services involved addressed the court. James Donnelly, for the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), confirmed Ms Martin was "observed in the mortuary to have some signs of life." John Gray, representing Durham Constabulary, cited evidence of brain function and Ms Martin responding to stimuli.
Andrew Hodge, Director of Paramedicine at NEAS, had previously issued an apology, stating the service was "deeply sorry for the distress" caused. He confirmed a full review was underway and that the colleagues involved were being supported. Durham Constabulary investigated but confirmed no criminal charges would be brought.
The inquest has been adjourned and is scheduled to resume at 2pm on 30 January.
