Shy girl, 18, shares first kiss with boyfriend... then collapses and dies from rare heart condition



A shy teenager collapsed and died minutes after she and a boyfriend kissed for the first time, an inquest heard yesterday.

Keen sportswoman Jemma Benjamin, 18, shared the romantic moment with fellow university student Daniel Ross on their way to his flat.

But after they went inside Miss Benjamin slumped on to the sofa and began to drift in and out of consciousness.

Jemma Benjamin died from the rare cardiac condition SADS - Sudden Adult Death syndrome - which kills 500 people in Britain each year

Jemma collapsed after she and fellow university student Daniel Ross (pictured) kissed

She suffered from the rare cardiac condition SADS, or Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, which kills about 500 people in Britain each year, the inquest was told.

Mr Ross, 21, tried to revive her before paramedics arrived, but nothing could have been done, the inquest heard.

He told police that he and Miss Benjamin had been friends for three months, but the evening she died was the first time they had kissed.

He said: ‘It was not a sexual relationship. We saw each other a couple of times a week.

‘We were going to go to a bar for some food and went back to my house for a credit card which I had forgotten.

‘We were talking and ended up kissing by the front door.

‘We went into the kitchen and then the living room and Jemma sat down on the sofa.’

Mr Ross said Miss Benjamin’s eyelids suddenly ‘began to droop’ and her mouth started to froth before she collapsed at his student flat in Pontypridd, South Wales.

He said: ‘I rang her mother to see if she had epilepsy. She fell in and out of consciousness.’ After dialling 999 Mr Ross was given instructions in administering CPR over the phone, but was unable to revive the teenager.

She was dead on arrival at hospital and is believed to have died in the flat. Miss Benjamin had been studying sports science at the

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, and had hoped to travel the world teaching English and sport.

THE KILLER WITH NO OBVIOUS CAUSE One in 20 cases of sudden cardiac death has no obvious cause and this is termed Sudden Arrhythmic Death syndrome. It is caused by a disturbance in the heart's rhythm but affects the electrical functioning of the organ rather than the structure. This is why it can only be detected in life not after death. The electrical fault is caused by defects in the DNA, which may be inherited.

For more information visit www.sads.org.uk

Her father Dale, 38, said he had believed she and Mr Ross were ‘just friends’. He added: ‘Jemma was very shy and timid.’ She was athletic and sporty but was ‘stressed’ about forthcoming exams in sports science, the hearing was told.

Her mother, Charlotte Garwood, 37, said the long-distance swimmer and hockey player was ‘a picture of health one minute and taken away from me the next’.

‘I am not able to put into words how much I miss her,’ she said.

A post-mortem examination could find no medical reason for Miss Benjamin’s death in April 2009. She had no history of cardiac problems, the hearing was also told.

Miss Benjamin’s parents, who are divorced, have criticised the ambulance response time.

The inquest was told it took 22 minutes for the crew to arrive and the service had to be alerted twice before responding.

The 999 dispatcher and crew, who were carrying out equipment checks, had ‘underestimated the urgency of her situation’, an investigation led by area ambulance officer Anthony Windas found.

But a medical report read to the inquest in Aberdare said the chances of surviving SADS were very low, and it was unlikely the timing of the crew’s arrival would have had any influence on the tragic outcome.

Glamorgan coroner Peter Maddox recorded a narrative verdict.

After the hearing, builder Mr Benjamin, 38, of Llantwit Fardre, South Wales, said: ‘We were shocked and devastated that such a fit girl as Jemma should have died.

‘She had targets in life and plenty of ambitions. She had so many friends and she’ll be sadly missed.

‘There’s so many things I could say about her – she was a beautiful daughter and a lovely person.’