Family seek to overturn Coroner's open verdict on young nurse's sudden death after seven years of painstaking research

A mum who has spent seven years solving the mystery of her daughter’s death is calling for an inquest into her fate to be reopened after discovering what killed her. 

Lisa Jane Browne died suddenly in 1998 at the age of 27 but because doctors were unable to find a cause a coroner’s court delivered an open verdict.  This meant Lisa was a victim of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS), an umbrella term which covers unexpected and unexplained deaths. 

Now her mother, Doreen Harley, who is originally from Longton, has found that Lisa had a little-known condition called Long QT Syndrome, an hereditary disorder of the heart’s electrical rhythm which can be a cause of SADS.   The 57-year-old’s research has also led to her husband, her remaining daughter and her two grandchildren all being diagnosed with the treatable condition. 

Mrs Harley said a file containing her research, including independent genetic tests on tissue from Lisa’s body which showed she had Long QT Syndrome, have been sent to the Cheshire coroner’s office.  The coroner has since sent the file on to the Attorney General’s office in London, which has to give its permission for a fresh hearing.  If this is granted, the matter will be passed on to a High Court judge, who has the power to order a fresh inquest. 

Mrs Harley said: “Lisa’s death was absolutely devastating for the whole family.  It was so unexpected.  We were left asking the one big question – why?

“Steps are now being taken to ascertain whether the inquest can be reopened and I think there’s a good chance. 

“This is all in the interests of us bringing it to a closure and having a cause of death. 

“You don’t expect someone to die at 27 and then not have any idea why that person died.” 

She added: “At the time we received a telephone call from the coroner’s office, who told us that the pathologist could find no obvious cause of death and in his opinion Lisa should still be alive.  Not knowing why Lisa died has been playing on all our minds.  We had to have an answer.” 

Lisa, a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, in Chester, who was educated at St Thomas More Roman Catholic High School in Longton, went to bed suffering flu-like symptoms of January 10, 1998 and never woke up. 

After the inquest, Mrs Harley spent years trawling the Internet for data, speaking to experts and tracking down information.  Mrs Harley, who has since moved from Longton to North Wales, was able to pinpoint Long QT Syndrome, which is said to be one of the main causes of SADS. 

Tissue taken from Lisa’s body during the original post mortem examination was genetically tested by an expert in London – and the results confirmed that Long QT Syndrome was the likely cause of her sudden death. 

At the time, little was known about the condition, although it was suspected Lisa had suffered from a heart problem .  Because of the nature of the syndrome, the heart can appear normal.  It is now understood that the condition, once believed to be so rare that there were only a handful of cases every year, is more common than previously thought. 

Mrs Harley said: “My husband Terry and I went for screening and found that he had Long QT Syndrome. 

“Our surviving daughter Rachel didn’t go with us.  We were worried about her because she had two blackouts while Lisa was still alive. 

“After Terry was diagnosed we were desperate to get Rachel to a screening but she buried her head in the sand and didn’t want to know.  Finally, in 2002, she was screened and found to have it.” 

As well as Terry, aged 60, and 32-year-old Rachel, Rachel’s children Jack, aged eight, and Adam, aged five, were also diagnosed with the condition.  Beta-blocker drugs can be used to treat the syndrome but, in Rachel’s case, she needed to be fitted with a pacemaker, which is primed to kick in should her heart fail. 

Mrs Harley said: “Long QT Syndrome is hereditary and sudden noises while the person asleep can cause death. 

“We were told that it is almost certain that Lisa died of Long QT Syndrome.  Her death appears to have happened when she switched her alarm clock off at 6am. 

“Rachel had a lucky escape just a few months after her pacemaker was fitted when her son Adam woke up screaming one night.  She blacked out but the pacemaker device kicked in and saved her life.” 

The Cheshire coroner’s office confirmed it had dealt with Mrs Harley’s request and passed it on to the Attorney General’s Department. 

Cheshire Coroner Dr Nicholas Rheinberg said: “The document is with the Attorney General and we are awaiting his decision.  If he grants his fait, then we can make an application to the High Court.  

“This is entirely new to me, but I fully support Mrs Harley in her bid to have the inquest reopened. 

“I don’t like the term Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, it seems to me to be a little bit of a cop-out that a pathologist is scratching his head not knowing what the cause of death was.  I prefer to call it Long QT Syndrome. 

“I come across it rarely, but my fear is that it is diagnosed far less often than it should be. 

“That is why I give Mrs Harley my full support, I’m anxious that this issue should be put into the public eye so that the public can become more aware of it.” 

There are two steps to gaining a new inquest.  If the applicant can provide new evidence they can apply first to the Attorney General and then to a High Court judge who can order a new inquest. 

Mrs Harley is now a rained bereavement counsellor working with Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), a national charity committed to raising awareness of SADS and to providing support to bereaved families.  The charity was founded in 1995 to lead research and provide support in sudden deaths in the young, usually believed to have been caused by conditions such as Long QT Syndrome, which occur when the heart falls into a fatal rhythm. 

She wants the Government to provide mandatory screening for children at the age of 14. 

She said: “Had Lisa been offered screening it is quite possible that Long QT Syndrome may have been detected and she could still be alive today.  It’s very said that we have to wait for someone to die for the families to get checked.” 

Find out more about Long QT Syndrome