The Turkish Health Ministry has spoken out after it was claimed the body of a 28-year-old mother was returned to her home country without her heart.
Beth Martin, a mother of two from Portsmouth, UK, died just hours after arriving in Istanbul, Turkey, after becoming unwell during the flight.
According to The New York Post, she initially attributed her symptoms to food poisoning, but her condition deteriorated rapidly upon arrival.
Within hours, she exhibited signs of delirium and was admitted to Marmara University Pendik Training and Research Hospital and died the following day, April 28.
Her husband, Luke Martin, claims he was told that she would be buried the following day but fought to have her body repatriated to the UK.
Upon arrival, an autopsy was performed and the coroner told the devastated family that Beth's heart was missing from her body.
“The UK autopsy began. And then the final blow: Beth’s heart was missing. The Turkish hospital has removed it. No explanation. No consent. They have invaded her body and they have TAKEN her heart,” read a statement on a GoFundMe page established to support the family.
The family has been trying to get answers after the Turkish Ministry of Health stated that Beth died from “cardiac arrest due to multiple organ failure,” but did not specify the underlying cause.
After Beth's loved ones went public with the case, the Turkish Ministry of Health denied any organs were removed from her body, claiming that no surgical procedures had been performed on the decedent.
Their statement, as reported by The Sun, added: "The patient was recorded in the hospital records as a ‘forensic case’ in line with the statement of Martin’s wife that they may have been poisoned by a meal they ate in their country before the trip, and the initial findings."
The ministry claimed that the preliminary autopsy was non-invasive and done without any incisions, but added that after the first post-mortem, Beth's body was transferred to the Forensic Medicine Institute for another autopsy.
It did not specify whether any surgical procedures were carried out during the second autopsy.
Their statement added: "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.
"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."
An autopsy carried out in the UK stated that Beth's heart was missing when she was repatriated and the family are still looking for answers on her cause of death as while medical reports rule out food poisoning as a cause of death, they did not confirm how she died.
Luke also claimed he was treated as a suspect following Beth's death, with authorities questioning whether he'd poisoned her.
While she was in the hospital she had undergone scans with doctors telling her husband they had concerns for her heart.
Beth tragically died the following day, leaving behind Luke and their two children, aged eight and five.
Marmara Pendik Hospital where Beth was treated is now facing a negligence investigation over her sudden death, according to the family.