A female soldier, 19, died in hospital on Tuesday a week and a half after she collapsed in her cell in military prison.

The soldier was hospitalized last week in critical condition and suffered severe brain damage after collapsing in her cell due to a heart attack incurred in a military prison.

The soldier was arrested two weeks ago for smoking marijuana and spent the ensuing week at Prison 4 in Tzrifin. After her arrest, she complained to prison officials of breathing difficulties, pressure in her chest, fierce pain in her stomach and weakness, and was apparently checked by an army medic at the prison clinic. She was reportedly given paracetamol, a medication for light pain relief. She saw an army doctor the following day. It's not known what treatment she was given.

Two days later, on September 24, she was found unconscious in her cell. She was resuscitated and rushed to the hospital.

The army has opened an investigation into the prison staff’s conduct in the days before the soldier collapsed. Inter alia, it wants to know how much time lapsed between her collapse and her initial medical care, who provided this first aid, how long it took, and whether a defibrillator was used.

The soldier was initially taken to the nearby Assaf Harofeh Hospital. The following afternoon, she was rushed to Beilinson Hospital’s cardiology ward because she had an erratic heartbeat. The doctors there managed to stabilize her heart, but a CT scan done two days later showed that she had suffered severe brain damage.

Medical staff familiar with the case said the brain damage probably stemmed from her being deprived of oxygen for a prolonged period after her heart attack.

Doctors said they had trouble understanding how a healthy young woman of 19 ended up in critical condition. She was a professional gymnast doing her service in the air force and had been recognized by the army as an outstanding athlete.

The doctors said this fact raises questions about the treatment she received after first complaining of her symptoms, the length of time she lay unconscious in her cell before being discovered and the length of time that passed before trained medical personnel with proper equipment first treated her.

So far, doctors have found no viral or bacterial infection or evidence of heart disease that might explain her collapse. But they said a viral infection which hasn’t yet been detected by lab tests may have damaged her heart. Another possibility, though less likely, is that diarrhea may have caused her to become dehydrated, which in turn depleted her potassium and thereby caused a heart attack.

The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit said the soldier was arrested on September 18, and a military court ordered her held in jail while the investigation against her proceeded. On September 24 she was taken to the hospital, and the next day, the army opened a probe into her collapse.

“To protect her privacy and enable the probe to be conducted properly, we can’t give any additional details about the matter,” the statement added.