A 21-year-old British tourist collapsed and died in Turkey while on a family holiday to celebrate his father's 50th birthday. Branigan Smith, from Radcliffe, was rushed to hospital, where medics worked for 50 minutes trying to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead in the early hours of August 29 last year, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Family Still Searching for Answers
Eight months on, with the cause of their son's death still unknown, his family say they are still searching for answers. His mother, Lisa Heald, 46, said: "We'd had a lovely holiday. We went for a week, we had a boat trip for my husband's 50th which was fun. On the Thursday we went out for a meal, everything was lovely. That Thursday night, Branigan wasn't ill, he didn't say he had a headache or anything like that. He had his tea - a steak - and four beers. We were walking back to a bar on the corner near our hotel and he just collapsed."
A passer-by rushed to give CPR to Branigan while an ambulance was called. "The ambulance came quite quickly although I thought it was an absolute eternity," Lisa said. The family were not allowed to travel in the ambulance with their son, and by the time they arrived at the hospital, medics were already working on Branigan. At around 12:25 am, doctors gave his loved ones the worst possible news. "They came out and said 'we've tried for 50 minutes, we're sorry he is unresponsive'," Lisa said.
Lack of Closure
The family was never given the opportunity to say a final goodbye, with Branigan driven more than 230 km away to Antalya for a post-mortem. "We were due to fly back on the Saturday," said Lisa. "As his mum I said 'I can't go home and leave him here', but they drove him to Antalya for a post-mortem. They wouldn't let me see him." Branigan was eventually flown back to London Gatwick on September 3, before the coroner requested a Home Office post-mortem at Royal Oldham Hospital. Lisa says the post-mortem gave "no indication" towards what could have happened.
With the family still searching for answers, they have been told Branigan may have suffered a young sudden cardiac death. Lisa says the coroner has ordered Turkish authorities to provide documents from Branigan's post-mortem in Antalya. "Hopefully by the end of June we will have some kind of answer," Lisa said. "As his mum, I've gone over that night - during the day, did he disappear at any point not feeling well? There was nothing. That night was no different from any other night."
Concern for Other Children
Lisa and her husband James are also concerned for their two daughters, Mackenzie, 27, and Daisy, 14, as they cannot be screened for potential issues until the family knows what to look out for. "I'm living in fear every time Mackenzie wants to go on holiday," said Lisa. "But would [Branigan's death] have happened here anyway? Was it always going to be that day? There are so many questions that nobody has been able to answer."
Branigan was a healthy young man who went to the gym four times a week and had no underlying health conditions. The family were also unable to see his body once he was returned to the UK. "When I asked to see him, the undertaker said 'we can't tell you no, we'd never do that, but they do things differently in different countries and I wouldn't want you to have that image for the rest of your life'. That's something else that we lost, that last goodbye. Everything was just taken away."
Branigan's Passions
Branigan was "obsessed with travel" and studied travel and tourism at Bury College before taking on an apprenticeship at Hays Travel in Swinton, where he booked the holiday for a party of 12 to celebrate his dad's 50th birthday and arranged travel insurance. The Bolton Wanderers fan was also a keen footballer, having played at school, beginning at Radcliffe Juniors before joining Westbury. The two clubs will play a match at Radcliffe FC's Neuven Stadium in his honour to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation at 7:30 pm on Friday, May 22.
