Novichok victim’s son reveals: My mum had a heart attack and may be left brain-damaged
NOVICHOK victim Dawn Sturgess has suffered a heart attack that may have left her brain-damaged, according to her son.
The Salisbury resident is under police guard in hospital and being kept alive on a ventilator, with her loved ones unable even to touch her skin. Her son, Ewan Hope, 19, told last night how he had to wear long protective gloves just so he could hold his stricken mother’s hand during a heartbreaking visit to her secure room in Salisbury General.
‘I touched her hair through the gloves and told her, “I love you, Mum. I just want you to get better.’’ My whole family are grieving, upset and scared. We’re trying to stay strong for each other but there have been tears,’ he said.
Miss Sturgess, 44, and her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, 45, collapsed at Mr Rowley’s home in Amesbury, Wiltshire, last weekend. Tests revealed they had been struck down by the same poison as that used against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in nearby Salisbury, in what is believed to have been a hit ordered by the Kremlin.
Police believe the British couple must have touched a contaminated container in Queen Elizabeth Gardens, Salisbury but, speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Ewan dismissed claims that they picked up a syringe or cigarette butt. ‘She wouldn’t pick up fag ends and she hates drugs to bits,’ he said.
When Ewan visited his mum in hospital, she ‘looked like she was asleep’ and had ‘breathing tubes in her mouth and nose and 12 medications going through one drip’ as well as a heated blanket on her bed. Doctors told him they were ‘pretty sure’ she had come into contact with Novichok as she had similar symptoms as the Skripals, including foaming at the mouth. ‘Things are worse for Mum, though, because they said the Skripals didn’t have heart attacks.’
Paramedics had given her CPR because her heart wasn’t beating, Ewan revealed, but added: ‘Because there was no oxygen going to her brain for 30 minutes, doctors are afraid she could be brain-damaged.’
However, his aunt, Helen Mockridge, is more optimistic.
She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Dawn just picked something up – we don’t know any more than that. There’s optimism for her recovery. So we’re hopeful. She’s a troubled soul but no one deserves this, no matter what they’ve done.
‘She was just out enjoying a summer’s day with a bottle of wine. And then it all went wrong.’
Last night a police officer was rushed to hospital with symptoms of Novichok poisoning. Great Western Hospital in Swindon went into lockdown, with police officers guarding the doors and ambulances sent elsewhere.
Medics were seen dressed in green protective suits to guard them from any harmful chemicals.
The officer was later transferred to Salisbury District Hospital for treatment but Wiltshire Police announced that the officer had been given the all-clear.
The force added: ‘We would like to reiterate the advice from Public Health England that the risk to the wider public remains low.’
However there is mounting concern among residents that they are being denied information about where Ms Sturgess and Mr Rowley went in Salisbury before the nerve agent took effect. At a public meeting last week, there were complaints that locals were being kept in the dark.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that one city centre shop – the EE phone store – was closed briefly on Friday after staff discovered the couple had been there.
EE said: ‘We can confirm our Salisbury branch was closed purely as a precaution as the couple who have unfortunately been poisoned did visit our store.
‘Now that we have determined their visit was before the incident took place, we have opened again and we’re confident there’s no risk to customers or our team.’
However, the statement is at odds with one given by Wiltshire Chief Constable Kier Pritchard at the public meeting. He said police had no idea where or when the couple were contaminated.