Portsmouth dad suffers 'deepest trauma' after wife, 28, mysteriously dies in Turkey - hospital probe launched

Luke Martin suffered the most “traumatic week” of his life when his beloved wife Beth, 28, passed away before he had to break the news to their distraught young children.

The Turkish hospital where Beth died is now being investigated for negligence following her death. And in a further sickening development, a UK autopsy has also now revealed her heart was removed after she passed away in Turkey. The family are now fighting for answers and want Beth’s heart reunited with her body.

Luke’s nightmare began shortly after the family flew out to Turkey on Sunday 27 April when Beth became “delirious” and unwell upon arrival. She was rushed to hospital but died around two days later.

To compound the nightmare, grieving Luke was accused of poisoning his wife while he and other family members - who had flown out - were kept in the dark by hospital and police authorities over Beth’s condition and subsequently her death. Once the family was belatedly told Beth had died, they were made to carry her body in a bag through the hospital in a raft of claims levelled against Turkish authorities.

Writing on social media upon his return to Portsmouth, Luke said earlier this month: “Anyone that knows me knows I'm not one for posting my life on social media, however word travels fast and I figured it's probably best if it comes from me.

“Two weeks ago me, my wife and two kids set out for a family holiday to Turkey. Only three of us made it back. I lost my wife, my children lost their mum, we lost the biggest piece of the puzzle that was our family.

“It has been the worst and most traumatic week of my entire life, and to top it off. I had to break the news to my babies that their mum isn't coming home, it broke me. Even more so when I had to say goodbye to them so they could be brought home by family.

“I stayed in Turkey another two days to ensure she was brought back, and booked myself on the same flight home. Knowing my wife was still on my flight but I couldn't be next to her broke me even more.

“The harsh reality of coming home and the world's still spinning as if nothing has happened is horrible. Realisation of becoming mum and dad, packing her clothes away for the last time, and the deafening silence when the kids are asleep.

“If anyone can take anything away from this…hold your loved ones a little longer, don't sleep on an argument, take photos, take videos, tell them you love them more. You will never know when any of these may be your last.

“I love you babe, forever by my side. This life and the next.”

A Go Fund Me has been set up to support heartbroken Luke with nearly £15,000 raised already. The fundraiser reveals the full torment of what took place in Turkey as the family demands answers.

Robert Hammond, writing on the page, revealed how the dream holiday quickly unravelled into a living nightmare once in Turkey. “Beth was taken to hospital, Luke followed behind in a taxi with their two young children in tow,” he said.

“Beth at this point was not herself and scared, language barriers again made everything worse. The children traumatised — watched helplessly as their mum was pinned down, poked prodded invasively by strangers. No explanations. No understanding. Luke had no choice but to trust the doctors that they knew what they were doing and that they would take care of her.

“Little did they know, this would be the last time Luke ever saw his wife, and the last time the kids would ever see their mummy alive.”

He continued: “That (Monday) night, Beth was moved into intensive care and her condition by now was critical. Luke was banned from seeing her. From there, no calls and no updates despite him trying to contact the hospital to see if his wife was ok. Just silence.”

The following day Luke and Beth’s mums arrived and went frantically searching for Beth at the hospital. “They battled through a destitute and worn down hospital, desperate for answers. But nothing,” Robert said.

“Eventually, Luke got a vague message: Beth had been transferred overnight, both grandparents weren’t even at the right hospital anymore and no one could even be bothered to tell them, or at the very least, contact Luke. When Beth was transferred back Luke was told Beth was moved during the night due to ‘concerns with her heart’. That was all we knew at the time.”

Following hours of silence over Beth’s condition Turkish police arrived at the hotel to interrogate Luke with no translator. “Hotel staff acted as intermediaries. Through broken communication, Luke was made to sign a document - without knowing he later translated the statement which had read that Beth had died at around 9am,” Michael wrote.

“He had heard nothing from the hospital regarding this and was constantly texting and calling his mum asking if they had been allowed to see her yet. Now, in an unforeseeable turn - he was considered by Turkish authorities a suspect in her death. Specifically, that he had poisoned her.”

Luke was later cleared by police as confusion reigned over whether Beth was in fact still alive. Beth’s mum was allowed to visit her daughter and revealed she was alive, but only “barely”.

“The doctor asked if Beth had allergies. Luke had already told the paramedics when Beth got in the ambulance that she was allergic to penicillin,” Robert continued. “And yet when told again, they were shocked to hear this information — they had no idea and had been treating her for hours at this point.

“That evening, the hospital called Luke. Beth had passed. This time, it really was true. Beth was gone.

“Before Luke and Beth’s mum could even begin the process of mourning, after being told in a corridor that his wife/daughter had died, was then told to pay £2,000 - yet still not allowed to see her.

“They returned back to the hotel and within an hour the police returned telling him they will be burying her the following evening. Luke strongly refused this and told them he is taking her home. They told him to return to the hospital at 8am to be interviewed by a prosecutor. The children still didn’t know. Luke was reeling. Accused. Alone.”

After being quizzed by armed police in the back of a van in a hospital car park, Luke was cleared by officers - but the nightmare continued. “After cooperating fully, he begged, sobbing, to see his wife. He was allowed into the morgue to see her. For one minute. No more. The staff over his shoulder made sure of that,” Robert wrote.

“Being wrongfully accused in a foreign country of murdering someone you love so dearly is life-altering. Beth's mum was allowed to see her but was under strict instructions to wash her hands, not touch her and not even kiss her. Yet again, staff were over her shoulder, she couldn’t even embrace her dead daughter's body.”

Yet what followed next was even more “horrifying”, Robert said. “They were then instructed to carry Beth’s body in a zipped body bag. They had to take a corner of the bag each and shift her corpse. It is incomprehensible to believe that the mother, husband and best friend of this 28 year old young woman, were told to take her body bag through a hospital,” he said.

“The fourth corner of the bag – carried by the translator. They approached an elevator with her body. As they waited, the translator had the audacity to tap away at her body bag. Like it was luggage. Like it was the briefcase of a businessman who’s late for a meeting. No compassion. No humanity.”

After managing to arrange for travel insurance to bring Beth home Luke was told it could take two weeks or longer and refused. “He paid thousands on top of what he had already paid for scans, taxis, hospital fees, translators hotels, repatriation arrangements, transcribing documents, notaries the list goes on - and arranged for her body to fly home himself,” Robert said.

“Luke finally had to do what no parent should ever do. He told the children mummy was gone. Dead. Surrounded by grief. He watched the light drain from their eyes. That pain is permanent. He held them and they cried together, but not as a family. Because a crucial member of that family was gone.”

The children and family flew home on the Sunday as Luke stayed a few days more to fly home beside his wife. “In the weeks since bringing Beth home the family is battered and bruised,” Robert continued. “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 had 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 than any other.”

Robert added: “And this is why we are fighting back. Luke has spent thousands. He’s self-employed, meaning that if he’s not back to work in a matter of days, he won’t be able to support his family. They are grieving, traumatised and now trying to put the pieces of their family back together.

“After everything the family have been through - Luke believes passionately that this is something that cannot be taken lying down.

“That is why we write this story. That is why we expose the deepest level of trauma we have ever experienced as a family. With excruciating detail, we are exposing our pain in sharing this and asking for help and hopefully bring all of her home.

“Please donate. Or share. Or both. Anything to help them rebuild towards the extortionate medical bills that were not covered by insurance and the living costs that Luke and the children now face.

“Beth’s death is now being investigated as a potential negligence by the hospital.”

To donate go to: www.gofundme.com/f/24skn-beth-martin

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