Yahoo News Healthy mum of two who died suddenly was found ‘unresponsive’ in Portugal hotel room
A Wigan mum of two found unresponsive in her hotel room tragically died from natural causes, an inquest has heard.
Susan Sherman,of Clifton Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield, went on holiday to Portugal alone in May 2022, an inquest into her death at Bolton Coroner’s Court on Wednesday morning (April 10) was told.
The 59 year old, who had worked as a sales assistant for 17 years, would go on holiday twice a year and ‘enjoyed the freedom’ of solo travelling.
It was agreed between her and her two adult daughters, Christina and Donna Sherman, that she would contact them by phone at least once a day during her holiday as she was travelling alone. The inquest heard their father had died in 2008.
At 10pm on May 25, 2022 Susan sent a text saying she was heading to her accommodation, Hotel Luar, in Portimão, from the airport and would be in contact again the following morning. It was the last time her family heard from her. The next day Donna sent her mum a text but did not receive a reply.
After not hearing from their mum despite several attempts to reach her, Susan’s daughters became concerned and contacted the hotel where she was staying. The hotel’s staff rang Susan’s room at 10.30pm that evening but did not receive a response. It was decided housekeeping staff would check on her the next morning.
Christina’s fiancee Darryl Flemming then spoke to hotel staff and insisted that they check on Susan. Just before midnight they broke into her room and sadly found her lying on the floor unresponsive. An ambulance was called and it was tragically confirmed that Susan had died.
The inquest heard the hotel’s staff saw no signs of ‘violence or disturbance’ in Susan’s room. The Portuguese authorities found no suspicious circumstances and the public prosecutor decided no further investigation was necessary.
A post mortem was carried out in Portugal by Dr Silva Roubaco, a forensic medical expert, who concluded Susan had suffered a heart attack and died of natural causes. The body was then embalmed before being repatriated to the UK.
Pathologist David Barker then carried out another post mortem once Susan's body was repatriated.
Giving evidence, Dr Barker said his examination was 'hampered' by the previous post mortem and the embalming process but agreed with its findings. He said on the balance of probabilities a heart attack was the most likely cause of death and that Susan died of natural causes.
The inquest heard Susan had suffered with IBS but that other than that she was ‘healthy’ and would walk to and from work everyday.
Coroner Peter Sigee concluded Susan died of natural causes after suffering a heart attack and passed on his condolences to her family.
