Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Natasha wants answers after ordeal in shop
A MUM is seeking an apology after she collapsed with a seizure in a Dundee supermarket.
Natasha Brown, 34, from Newport, claims Tesco staff left her lying on the floor of the Riverside Drive store in full view of customers.
She also claims that due to the store’s inaction, an ambulance never arrived.
She hasn’t been able to work since the incident on July 4.
Natasha said: “This has had a massive impact on my life. I’m looking for answers and an apology from Tesco about how my seizure and collapse were handled by staff in store on the day.
“I’m also looking for a reassurance from them that staff have at least learned from what happened to me, and if the same were to occur again they would be better equipped to handle it.”
Natasha, who was born with two holes in her heart and has to take regular medication for a bipolar condition, said she believes that if an ambulance had arrived she would have received a proper hospital diagnosis.
She said: “I have never had a seizure before and still don’t understand why it happened. That has made me really scared that it happens again and I won’t know it’s coming. Because of that I am terrified to leave the house.”
Natasha said that immediately after entering the store she felt unwell. She went to a customer services counter where a woman gave her a chair.
Natasha said: “This was a high swivel chair and she also took away the trolley I was holding on to for support.
“I felt really unwell, dizzy and very lightheaded. I sat down and almost immediately slumped on to the floor where I began to have a three-and-a-halfminute-long seizure. I banged my head badly and as the seizure continued I kept banging my head on the hard floor.
“No one brought anything to cover me or to protect my head, and there were no screens put around me to stop other customers seeing me.
“I didn’t realise it was so long at the time, but I have since seen CCTV showing what happened.”
Natasha said that the first Tesco employee she went to for help left her but a customer immediately came to her aid.
She said: “That woman was amazing. I only know she was called Marie but I really felt like she was my earth angel that day. She was the one who really helped me.”
Natasha claims a store manager phoned for an ambulance from his personal mobile.
“However, he went away around five minutes after this happened. When the ambulance got in touch around an hour later for an update they were told not to come,” she claimed.
Instead, a friend later came to pick Natasha up and take her home.
Natasha has subsequently been in touch with Tesco to find out why an ambulance never arrived. She said: “I feel they have been very unhelpful. They offered me £40, then £100 compensation but this is absolutely not about money.
“I don’t want any compensation. I want an apology for how I was dealt with on the day and I want answers to what went wrong and why an ambulance never got to me.”
A Tesco spokesman said: “This must have been really distressing and we were sorry to hear that the customer was not happy with how we handled things.
“We have been in regular discussion with her to understand her concerns and answer any questions.”