Mother calls for new inquest

A mother says she now has the final proof her 27-year-old daughter was killed by the sound of her early-morning alarm clock. 

Nurse Lisa Browne died on January 10, 1998, but an inquest could not determine the cause of her death.  Her mother, Doreen Harley, of Connah’s Quay, has been campaigning ever since to show that Lisa died of a rare heart disorder known as Long QT Syndrome. 

Now DNA tests by Swedish scientists have proved that Lisa did have the condition and Doreen is pressing for a fresh inquest. 

She said: “It has been a long fight.  We are still waiting to hear from the coroner but I am sure it will be favourable and we will hopefully have a new cause of death. 

“I was quite convinced all along but without the test results we could not be 100 per cent certain.  This proves it conclusively.” 

Doreen explained that the sudden death syndrome in the young, Long QT, was caused by various abnormal genes and the gene which was the trigger for sudden death in her family was sudden noise. 

It was the sudden shock of the 6am ringing of her alarm clock that killed Lisa.  Other members of the family are also affected by the same condition, she said.  Doreen’s five-year-old grandson Adam has been confirmed as the fifth member of the family to have the condition.  Her husband, Terry, has it, together with their other daughter Rachel, and her two children Jack, eight, and Adam. 

Rachel now has a pacemaker implant to kick start her heart if problems arise and the boys are waiting to see a specialist paediatric cardiologist who specialises in electrical abnormalities of the heart. 

Doreen is campaigning for other youngsters to be screened and says that the pacemaker implants known as ICD really are lifesavers. 

She has become a volunteer with the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and has already organised two screening sessions in Flintshire where seven young people of the 79 tested were found to have cardiac problems. 

In Lisa’s case, the pathologist could find no cause of death and an inquest recorded a verdict of death unascertainable.  Cheshire coroner Nicholas Rheinberger is considering a request to re-open the inquest. 

Lisa, who worked at The Countess of Chester Hospital as a paediatric nurse, had suffered from palpitations, chest pains and light-headedness. 

Doreen says she never accepted that her daughter died for no reason and says it is heart breaking to think that other young people will die not knowing they have the problem. 

Find out more about Long QT Syndrome