25 September 2023 , 17:16
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The heartbroken mother of a woman who collapsed and died on a family holiday has revealed she could have been saved – by delayed test results.
Melissa Kinsella, 30, was at the airport waiting to fly home from a holiday in Turkey when she collapsed and had a massive seizure and cardiac arrest. Her devastated family and friends raised over £50,000 to bring her back to the UK, but she was pronounced dead just hours after landing back in Merseyside.
Mother-of-three Melissa died on May 26 and her family were desperate to know why the previously healthy mum had died so suddenly. Then, two months later Melissa’s cousin, Nicole, found out she has a genetic heart condition called Long QT Syndrome.
Melissa with one of her daughters (Focus Features)Following tests, it was found that Melissa also had the same condition. Melissa’s mother, Michelle Heathcote, now believes that Nicole's test results, which took seven months to process, could have saved her daughter’s life.
The 51-year-old said: “We had no idea Nicole was being tested. She’d had her own health issues last year and was tested in December. NHS guidelines recommend three months for test results.
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Melissa's cousin Nicole after her cardiac arrest (Focus Features)"If that was the case, Melissa would have been tested, as a relative, and her life might have been saved. Because of the delay, I have lost my only daughter, and her three little girls are left without a mummy. It is absolutely tragic.
Michelle spoke out to raise awareness of the "killer condition" and to stress the "vital" importance of processing test results as quickly as possible.
Melissa with her family at Christmas (Focus Features)Melissa was mother to Chloe, nine, Beau, four and Romi, two, when she and her partner, Jay, booked a holiday to Turkey in May earlier this year. Michelle, from the Wirral, said: “Melissa was my only child, and we were incredibly close.
"She had a heart of gold, she was always happy to help people out. She was bubbly and chatty too.
"She worked in hair and beauty, but her priority was always her children. She loved being a mum.
Melissa with her dad Steven (Focus Features)
£50,000 was raised to bring Melissa home after she collapsed in Turkey (Focus Features)“Melissa was fit and healthy, but she’d had two seizures in the months before her death. She had tests and was reassured there was nothing wrong, but of course the doctors were not looking for a heart defect at that stage.”
During her holiday, Melissa texted her mother to complain of feeling unwell. Michelle said: “I thought maybe she had sunstroke and I was advising her to drink plenty of water. It didn’t seem anything serious.
The 30-year-old was described as 'fit and healthy' (Focus Features)“She actually said to me: ‘I feel like I’m dying’ but I thought it was just a figure of speech.” Melissa was planning to visit her GP once she arrived home, but instead she collapsed at the airport and was placed in a coma in a Turkish hospital.
Michelle and her husband, Steven, rushed to their daughter’s bedside and were told she had swelling on her brain. She added: “We were not allowed to see Melissa until we’d paid £2,000. It felt so cruel.
Melissa was an only child and came from a loving family in Merseyside (Focus Features)
Melissa's mother Michelle (left) wants to raise awareness of Long QT Syndrome (Focus Features)"We were told there was a £2,000 daily fee. We couldn’t understand what the doctors were saying to us about her condition.
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“We stayed by her bedside, playing her favourite songs and little messages from her daughters, just in case she could hear us.” A fundraising campaign to fly Melissa home raised £50,000 in a matter of days.
But within four hours of arriving at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral, she was pronounced dead, aged just 30. Michelle said: “We were on a real high, bringing her home, believing she might improve. So it was devastating to learn she was brain dead.
Melissa loved being a mother to her three children (Focus Features)“We had no idea why she’d died, or what had triggered her heart attack. It was horrific for us. Before Melissa died, I promised her I would be there for her children.”
After Melissa’s death, Nicole Waters, 27, contacted Michelle to say she was being tested for a genetic heart defect following a cardiac arrest in December 2022. In July this year, Nicole tested positive for Long QT syndrome - an inherited heart condition that affects how the heart beats.
Post-mortem tests on Melissa showed she too had the condition. Other relatives, including her young daughters, are now undergoing tests.
Melissa's recent birthday at her memorial bench at Leasowe Bay (Focus Features)Michelle said: “We were shell-shocked. I couldn’t believe it had taken seven months for Nicole’s tests results to be processed. NHS guidelines advise they ought to take around three months.
“If they had come back during the recommended time frame, Melissa would have been tested and either prescribed medication or fitted with a pacemaker. She could have been saved.
“Instead, Melissa has lost her life at such a young age, she had so much to look forward to. We have lost our only child, Jay has lost his partner, and most tragically of all, three little girls are left without a mummy.
“My four-year-old granddaughter keeps asking: ‘Why can’t heaven just give her medicine and send her back?’
“It was Melissa’s birthday last week and we took balloons and flowers to a memorial bench. It really upset her older daughters - I think it hit them that their mummy won’t be coming back.
“Losing Melissa has absolutely destroyed us and now I just want to make people aware of this horrible condition. I also want to stress the importance of processing test results as quickly as possible. It literally is a matter of life and death.”
A spokesperson for Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, said: “We are saddened by the death of Melissa and would like to extend our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones. Whilst we cannot comment in detail because of our duty to uphold patient confidentiality, it is important to note that confirming the result of a non-urgent genetic test is a complex analytical process.
"In some situations, it can take significantly longer than three months to validate a genetic variant, due to the requirement for additional complex tests, analysis, further checks and scientific verification through Northwest Genomics Laboratory Hub."