Mother fights to save ‘brain dead’ daughter, 18, who collapsed while waitressing in Soho and REFUSES to turn off her life support machine insisting she’s seen ‘signs of life’
- Orinta Spudyte, 18, was working at a London restaurant when she collapsed
- Doctors say two scans – an EEG and MRI – show Orinta is ‘brain stem dead’
- Mum Vera Spudiene, 42, from Romford insists she’s seen ‘signs of life’
- Doctors have advised her to turn off life support, but Vera says she’ll go to court
A heartbroken mother is fighting to save her beloved daughter after doctors declared her she ‘brain stem dead’ following a shock heart attack last month at work.
Fit and healthy waitress Orinta Spudyte, who had only just turned 18, was serving diners at a restaurant in Soho on 16th June when she suddenly collapsed, hitting her head as she fell to the floor.
Her Romford-based mother Vera Spudiene, 42, who is orginally from Lithuania, claims her daughter wasn’t breathing for 48 minutes.
When medics arrived on the scene they managed to bring back her pulse and rushed her to a hospital in London where she has been ever since, and doctors have told Vera her daughter is brain stem dead and there is no hope of recovery.
Fit and healthy waitress Orinta Spudyte, who had only just turned 18, was serving diners at a restaurant in Soho on 16th June when she suddenly collapsed, hitting her head as she fell to the floor. She has been in hospital ever since and doctor ssay she is brain stem dead
Orinta and Mum Vera from Romford. Before her collapse Vera had advised her daughter to take some time off from work, because she was clocking up long hours and arriving home late
The 18-year-old loved make-up and fashion and would often post TikTok’s about style and make-up
Orinta Spudyte, who had only just turned 18, was serving diners at a restaurant in London on June 16 when she had a heart attack and collapsed
Vera said her daughter was working six day weeks when she collapsed and wouldn’t come home until the early hours of the morning,
Her shifts ranged from four-and-a half to ten hours, and Vera said that she sometimes wouldn’t get back to their home in Romford until 2am.
Vera told Femail: ‘She loved her job, she worked there for two months and was very proud.
‘I asked her to take some time off as she was working six days a week, or maybe work closer to home. But she liked her colleagues.’
Vera Spudiene,42, is determined to take this all the way to court, despite what doctors say
Orinta having a laugh with sister Ewelina, 22. The pair were close and discussed getting matching tattoos only a few weeks ago
She claims the restaurant have failed to provide her with CCTV footage of the incident. The restaurant says the incident was out of shot, according to an unnamed source.
Vera told Femail ‘Orinta had blood pressure and kidney issues since she was four, but Great Ormond Street hospital removed her kidney and she has been checked and everything is normal.
‘We don’t know why this happened. She had so many plans for her life and I will fight for her, you can’t imagine the pain I’m in.’
Despite doctors declaring the teenager legally dead, the family still have hope.
On a gofundme page created by the family Vera said: ‘The faith and prayers of all of us have been heard, there are signs that her brain is not dead and there are hopes that Orinta will wake up.’
‘Orinta is in a coma, doctors say there was a spill of blood into the brain connected to the breathing apparatus.
Vera,42, said she saw ‘signs of life’ and will not ‘switch her daughter off’. Orinta had dreams of becoming an accountant and taking over her mother’s hair extension business
Orinta, 18 at home in Romford, with the family cat. The 18-year-old worked at an Italian diner for two months and collapsed whilst serving customers
‘They said she wouldn’t recover anymore. It remains only to wait and pray.
‘I don’t believe it and I don’t want to believe it, she’s a fighter, she had just turned 18 exactly a month ago.
‘I’m sure, thanks to all our prayers, she’ll open her eyes, otherwise she can’t be.
‘Daughter, I believe you hear me, so please don’t give up!’
Vera said her daughter repsonded to a video of herself singing or a clip of her doing something funny, saying she saw a tear run down her cheek.
She said that her finger also moved a little sometimes, but there’s been no response since last week.
Vera said she has resisted advice to switch off her daughter’s life support machine, as well as a psychologist provided by the hospital who told her to ‘let her daughter’s body die’.
Vera said ‘How can I sleep if I was not sure or not 100 per cent? How can I live later?’
Vera has already spoken to Archie Battersbea’s mum Hollie Dance who is currently fighting in the High Court to stop another London hospital ending her 11-year-old son’s life support after tests also showed it was ‘highly likely’ he was brain stem dead.
The rest of Orinta’s family including her stepfather and father agree with Vera that the machine should not be switched off.
Determined Vera will take the issue all the way to court. She claims she has still ‘not seen’ a shred of evidence that her daughter is brain dead, despite multiple requests.
Orinta (right) has dreams of becoming an accountant and has a place at college. The ambitious teen told her mother (pictured left) that she’s going to take over her business in the future and be rich
Orinta pictured as a baby (left). Her family refuse to give up on her and will take the case all the way to court. Sharing a moment: The mother and daughter from Romford are incredibly close
So far Vera has raised more than £9,000 and is still looking for lawyers to take on her case.
She has spoken of the heartache and depression following the incident.
She told Femail: ‘The way the hospital has treated me is not empathetic at all.
‘They said I need to accept my daughter is dead, but will not show me the scans.
‘Yesterday they asked me to switch off the machine, on her sister Ewelina’s 22nd birthday, what kind of birthday present would that be?’
The sisters who were extremely close, were discussing getting matching tattoos that said ‘sisters forever’ and the family had holidays booked to Portugal and their native Lithuania this summer.
Vera said ‘I’ve had panic attacks and only one doctor asked if I was OK.I feel like they just don’t care.’
The businesswoman, who is now staying in hospital accommodation 24/7, was also shocked when she claims that the hospital has said her daughter is ‘a good candidate for organ donation’ and that ‘the longer we leave it the more her organs will deteriorate.’
‘The very same day the doctor said she was brain dead. I said “Leave me alone just for today”. Vera kept resisting advice from the hospital to turn off life support.
‘They do not ask me how I feel,’ she claimed. ‘I have had very big panic attacks and depression.
‘I have asked for a second opinion and I need to see my daughter’s results. A few years ago I lost my two brothers and mum, every year someone passed away from my family.
‘The psychologist has not helped me. She said: “You have to let her body die, not only her brain”.
Orinta, who worked at a Soho eatery, was said to ‘love work and her job’ her Mum says she was ‘very excited to be earning money’
Orinta,18 with sister Ewelina,22 and Mum Vera,42 who were planning trips for this year
Business owner Vera has been forking out £70 a night to stay by her daughter’s side, while rotating with her only other daughter at Orinta’s bedside.
Describing her darling girl, she said ‘She is special. She is never angry, she is never upset, she is always smiling.
‘She is always doing makeup and loves TikTok, she likes to change hairstyle, doing nails and doing eyebrows.
‘Her dream was to become an accountant. She said to me “Mum, your business will one day be mine”. I was doing her extensions and she said, “I will be rich”.
She works six days a week, would come back at two o’clock in the morning, sleep, and then go back to work.
‘The last days before this accident we were planning to go to Lithuania for a holiday. She and her sister made plans to go to night clubs for her first time since she became 18.
Orinta,18, from Romford was a very popular and had lots of friends. Pictured on a night out having a meal.
‘She has a lot of friends and she is very friendly, she would try absolutely everything. I can’t believe this has happened, I am just in shock.
‘Sometimes it comes in my head, I think ‘What am I doing in this world? I am really really tired, I can’t do this anymore.’
Critics have taken to social media to blast the grieving Mum.
One social media user said ‘It’s terrible for a parent to lose a child but this mother is something else. In multiple comments she accuses the hospital of hiding mistakes. She says the hospital is selling donated organs and they want to harvest Orinta! She hides the fact her daughter had other health issues.
‘She is calling Doctors evil. In Lithuanian media she says her daughter is in a coma and not brain dead. She says the doctors are ‘stressing her’. But she doesn’t forget to ask for donations though.’
One troll takes Vera to task, assuming that she is asking for donations and hiding her daughter’s condition. Vera says comments like this make her feel like giving up.
Vera said comments like this make her feel like ‘giving up’ and it was another member of her family who started the GoFundMe campaign.
Vera says she has been open about her daughter’s previous health issues and has made no suggestion that the hospital are ‘selling or harvesting organs’, when speaking to Femail.
An NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson for the London hospital said has said ‘Orinta is currently receiving ongoing care on our intensive care unit.
‘We understand that this is an extremely difficult time for the family and we are working with them to ensure Orinta receives the best care available, which includes providing them with the relevant clinical information.’
Orinta as a blonde blue eyed child with a beaming smile, she overcame her issues and was declared healthy by doctors
As Orinta lies in a coma her family still pray for her life. They have started a GoFundMe page to get legal help to keep her life support machine on.
An anonymous source has claimed that staff at her place of work ‘massaged Orinta’s head’ after her collapse.
An NHS doctor who does not wish to be named, said: ‘Massaging the head in a case like this could most certainly exacerbate the severity of the condition in my professional opinion.
‘However, without having seen the patient it would be irresponsible of me to make comment without medical evidence in front of me and I am sure her colleagues were trying their best to help.’
Orinta’s workplace have been asked for comment and refused.
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