NZ Woman Taking Alcohol Breath Test Died Due to Stress

A woman in New Zealand who was being tested for alcohol in her breath died in the police booze bus due to arrhythmia in her heart which was triggered by stress and anxiety, an inquest into her death revealed.

Elizabeth Jill Gilbertson was stopped at a checkpoint by the police on June 3 last year and was taken for a breath test.

Gilbertson had moved to New Zealand from South Africa just six months ago and her brother, Dr Ian Gilbertson, said that she would have been terrified over the events that preceded her death as she was a victim of armed mugging and threats of violence on a number of occasions in the years before she migrated from South Africa.

"Despite aggressive efforts to revive her, Ms Gilbertson could not be resuscitated. I find that Ms Gilbertson was a shy, timid and anxious person who would have been terrified due to previous violent experiences in South Africa and also due to her nature", Coroner Gordon Matenga said.

Source: Medindia