TRAGIC LOSS
Son died after going to sleep
A 24-year-old, described as ‘one in a million’ tragically died after suffering an unexplained heart attack.
Liam Batten, of Langton Way in Tovil, passed away despite desperate efforts to revive him by his family and paramedics.
Mr Batten, who suffered from agoraphobia since he was 15, woke up in the night complaining of back pain and took some ibuprofen but soon after vomited before falling asleep.
His mother, Joy Brooker, noticed he had stopped snoring and realised he was unresponsive. She performed CPR herself and called an ambulance. But he could not be saved.
A post mortem report summarised at an inquest opening this week concluded he died of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome that night in July. This is also known as SADS, a heart attack with no detectable cause.
However, his mum and stepdad are not satisfied with the result.
The couple believe the doubling of his dose of an antidepressant, Sertraline, nine days before his death, could have contributed.
“I could be looking at it from the wrong angle because I’m angry and it could be a coincidence but the question is still there,” said Mrs Batten.
The mum of three hopes to raise her concerns at a full inquest set to be held in January.
She called her son:“One in a million, adding: “He was big, he was friendly, and was my giant. He was a whole load of love.
“He was very, very clever. He got distinctions at school. He loved everything about computers, he would strip them down and if anyone had a problem with theirs he would fix it.”
Because of his struggles with agoraphobia, the young tech whiz spent all his time indoors and also had online friends. Mrs Batten added: “It’s been amazing receiving condolence cards from people all over the world. He was a gentle giant and he had a wicked, dry sense of humour.”