A beloved mum-of-four who worked as a carer for young people with autism died suddenly after having a heart attack at home. An inquest held into the death of Gemma Rees at Pontypridd Coroners' Court heard how the 42-year-old had been seen asleep in bed at around 7am on November 13, 2022, at a house in Tordoff Way, Barry, where she was staying with her partner.
But at around 9.15am, she was found unresponsive by her partner, who phoned 999 and commenced CPR. Paramedics arrived ten minutes later, and identified an asystolic heart rhythm. They commenced advanced life support and obtained a return of spontaneous circulation after 35 minutes. Miss Rees was rushed to the University Hospital of Wales, where a CT scan showed severe hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.
Tragically, her condition deteriorated and she died the following day. The inquest heard how a post mortem examination identified that she had consumed cocaine and alcohol before her death, but that it was caused by coronary artery atherosclerosis. Area coroner Patricia Morgan returned a conclusion that Miss Rees had died as a result of natural causes. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.
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At the time of her death, Miss Rees's mum, Glenda Rees, paid a touching tribute to her daughter. She said: "Gemma wasn't one in a million, she was one in a zillion. There will never be another Gemma. You used to hear her before you saw her, she’d shout ‘Toots!!’ at the top of her voice. Her co-workers told me that when they knew Gemma was on duty, they knew it was going to be the best shift ever. She had that impact on people, on everybody.
"I know she’s my daughter, but what a fantastic person she was. She loved her job, and she looked after people." Glenda described how sociable Gemma was: "I went into town with her once and I had to say: ‘I’m not being funny, I’m worn out with you saying hello to everybody.' She said: 'You've got to be nice to people.' Everybody loved her, I’ve never heard anybody say a bad word about her. She loved people, she’d go and hug people and say ‘hiya, love.’ People say Barry isn’t going to be the same without her." Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news.
