Turkish officials break silence on death of mum who ‘had heart removed’

Beth Martin passed away in Istanbul last month

On holiday with her husband Luke, the 28-year-old from Portsmouth got sick and was rushed to Marmara University Pendik Training and Research Hospital on the outskirts of Istanbul.

Doctors reportedly checked her heart with an angiogram, but couldn't find anything untoward.

The next day, the mum-of-two tragically passed away from a cardiac arrest and the family has since accused staff of taking out Beth's heart without their permission after a UK autopsy discovered it was missing.

"A preliminary autopsy [without incision] was performed at the hospital in accordance with the forensic case procedure and his wife's request in this regard," said officials in a statement (via The Sun).

"The exact cause of Martin's death could not be determined with the current findings in the preliminary autopsy, which was carried out with the participation of the Public Prosecutor and the forensic medicine doctor. Beth Martin did not undergo any surgical procedures during her treatment at the hospital, and there was no question of any organs being removed."

Meanwhile, Beth's close friend Ellie has recounted the bizarre behaviour displayed by the doctors when she travelled over to Turkey.

"All they went on about is 'are you going to sue the hospital? Sign this bit of paper'. I said: 'Is there something we should be suing for? Do you know something we don't? Because that's really suspicious,'" she shared.

"The insurance company wanted to move her to a private hospital but the public hospital in Istanbul were not cooperating, they were being slow and delaying reports and not sending information over. They stopped her."

Marmara University Pendik Training and Research Hospital is currently facing a negligence investigation over Beth's sudden death, while her family has set up a GoFundMe page in the hope of finding out what happened.