A woman who managed to escape after her fiancé buried her alive has died from pneumonia and health complications.
Last November Stacey Gwilliam, 40, was found unresponsive at her mum's home in Swansea - where she was staying after suffering health issues.
A post-mortem examination gave the provisional cause of death as bronchial pneumonia and combined drug toxicity.
In July 2015, Ms Gwilliam miraculously survived after her partner Keith Hughes strangled and buried her in a shallow grave on a coastal path between two beaches near Swansea, reports Wales Online.
Hughes told cops when he was arrested: "You'll never find her."
From her would-be grave, Ms Gwilliam managed to escape by digging herself out with her fingernails.
Ms Gwilliam was taken to hospital and spent 26 days there – 14 of them in an induced coma. The attack was so serious she had to walk with a stick and was left with difficulty eating and speaking.
An inquest into her death was opened at Swansea's Guildhall on Wednesday.
Coroner's officer Gareth Heatley told the hearing Ms Gwilliam had been suffering from issues with her lungs and had been experiencing breathing difficulties.
On November 26 she had consulted her GP and the following day her mother had discovered her unresponsive in her home.
Paramedics were called and the family were advised to perform CPR. Police say they were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. The hearing was adjourned for a full inquest on September 22.
Ms Gwilliam had appeared on Good Morning Britain in 2016 when she spoke to presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about her experience at the hands of Hughes.
She told them: “I came round and there were branches and shrubs put on top of me. I could hear my heart beating and I could hear the sound of the sea in the background. It was like everything was in slow motion.
"I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move. It was like I was paralysed. I tried to get up but couldn’t. I had to use my nails to get out of where I was. That was all I could do. I tried to push but I didn’t have the upper strength.”
When she finally got out, she managed to stumble her way to a nearby golf range car park to raise the alarm.
Stacey was taken to hospital and spent 26 days there, 14 of them in an induced coma.
The bodybuilder was jailed for life at Swansea Crown Court in December 2015 for the attack.
