Just one day into what should’ve been a relaxing family holiday in Turkey, 28-year-old Beth Martin, a mother of two from Portsmouth, was wheeled into a hospital in Istanbul with what appeared to be an upset stomach.
That was the start of a never ending nightmare for the Martins, as Beth lost her life in the process, and her body was returned to the UK without her heart.
The sudden and disturbing series of events has shattered her husband Luke Martin and their two young children, 8-year-old Elouise and 5-year-old Tommy, who allege potential medical negligence, a botched investigation, and gross mishandling by Turkish authorities.
“It has been the worst and most traumatic week of my entire life,” Luke wrote on social media.
“If anyone can take anything away from this... hold your loved ones a little longer, don’t sleep on an argument, take photos, take videos, tell them you love them more.”
Mother-of-two mysteriously passes away after being treated in a Turkish hospital where doctors allegedly took her heart
Image credits: GoFundMe
Beth, Luke, and their two children arrived in Turkey on April 27. Beth had already begun feeling ill during the flight, complaining of nausea and a stomachache.
By Monday morning, her condition had deteriorated so severely that she was described as being “delirious.” Panicked, Luke contacted an ambulance and rushed her to a local hospital—which has not been identified—where things took a terrifying turn.
Image credits: GoFundMe
“She was pinned down, poked, and prodded invasively,” denounced Robert Hammond, a close friend of the family who’s been acting as their spokesperson. Hammond explained that Luke was barred from seeing her and received no updates on her condition throughout the entire grueling process.
“Just silence,” Hammond said. “No calls and no updates despite him trying to contact the hospital to see if his wife was OK.”
Image credits: tsuneomp/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)
Beth was later transferred to a second hospital for a procedure known as an angiography, a medical imaging technique that checks the status of blood vessels. Despite doctors having “concerns with her heart,” the scan showed no major abnormalities and she was sent back to the original facility.
Reports indicate the hospital then refused cooperation with Beth’s travel insurer and blocked attempts to move her to a private hospital.
Turkish police then falsely accused Luke of murdering his wife
Image credits: GoFundMe
Miscommunication and confusion escalated as Beth’s health declined. At one point, Turkish police arrived at the family’s hotel and delivered a shocking document stating Beth had passed away at 9 am—despite still being on life support at the time.
Turkish police then accused Luke of poisoning his wife, launching an investigation against him even before her passing had been officially confirmed. The accusation proved to be baseless shortly after, but the damage had already been done.
“They told him she was de*d before she actually passed,” said Ellie Grey, a close friend of Beth who traveled to Turkey to support the family. “And then accused him of m*rder.”
For spokespersons Grey and Hammond, the truth of the matter is clear. It was the doctors who ended Beth’s life by accident, and went to extreme lengths to wash their hands of the responsibility by obstructing the involvement of foreign authorities, private hospitals, and Luke himself.
“She was allergic to penicillin. They had no idea and had been treating her for hours,” Hammond said, explaining that Luke had specifically informed ambulance staff of her allergy, but that the information was ignored.
“The level of negligence is incomprehensible.”
Luke, his mother-in-law, and a close friend of Beth’s were then handed her body in a bag and had to place it in the coffin themselves
Image credits: GoFundMe
When Beth was finally pronounced as having passed away that Tuesday (April 29), the Martins had to begin the painful process of bringing her home, but even then the nightmare continued.
Beth’s mother and Luke were reportedly made to help lift her body into a coffin in the morgue.
“We got to see Beth for 30 seconds in the morgue then the guy (clicked his fingers) at us and handed us a corner of the bodybag that was zipped open and me, Beth's mum, Luke and a translator had to lift her body into a coffin,” Ellie Grey recounted.
Image credits: GoFundMe
According to Grey, Turkish authorities were suspiciously interested in burying or cremating Beth as soon as possible. “We had to fight to repatriate her and pay ourselves.”
“Losing her was traumatic enough but going over to Istanbul and seeing first hand the lack of respect and having to go the next day to the forensic examiner officer and saying, ‘Do not take any organs.’”
Her request would not be granted.
British coroners conducted a post-mortem examination as soon as Beth’s body was repatriated—only to discover that her heart had been taken.
“The Turkish hospital has removed it. No explanation. No consent,” Hammond wrote on the family’s GoFundMe page. “They have invaded her body and they have taken her heart.”
A GoFundMe campaign was set up to help the family, raising close to £200,000
According to the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Turkish coroners can legally remove entire organs without the consent of the patient’s families, citing “exceptional circumstances.”
A six-month wait now looms for a UK coroner’s inquest—time the family must endure without closure. In Turkey, a negligence investigation has reportedly begun.
No clear explanation, aside from ruling out food poisoning, has been offered for what caused Beth’s sudden passing.
Image credits: GoFundMe
The fundraiser campaign destined to support the grieving family has surpassed £180,000 ($240,000).
“We just want answers,” Grey added. “Why did she pass away? Why was her husband accused? And why was her heart taken without our consent?”
"This is murder." Netizens took to social media to share their thoughts on the heartbreaking case
