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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Callum Cuddeford & Alahna Kindred

Waitress, 18, 'brain-dead' after collapse at work as mum fights to keep life support on

A mum has been left fighting for her teenage daughter's life after ruled she was "brain stem dead" following a heart attack.

Waitress Orinta Spudyte, 18, was serving customers at Bancone Golden Square in Central London on June 16 when she suddenly collapsed, hitting her head as she fell to the floor.

Mum Vera Spudiene, 42, said her daughter wasn't breathing for 48 minutes -and she said medics are advising her to switch off Orinta's life support.

When medics arrived they managed to find Orinta's pulse and rushed her to St Thomas' Hospital in London.

Vera claims the restaurant hasn't handed her the CCTV of the incident - while bosses say it happened out of shot, MyLondon reports.

Vera Spudiene outside St Thomas' hospital in central London (Facundo Arrizabalaga)

In the days since the incident, Vera says she was told that two scans, an EEG and MRI show Orinta is "brain stem dead" and have asked her to turn off her daughter's life support.

The devastated mum has demanded full access to the scans to get a second opinion.

Someone who is brain dead is legally confirmed as dead. They have no chance of recovery because their body is unable to survive without artificial life support, according to NHS guidance.

Orinta Spudyte was working as Bancone Golden Circle in Central London when she collapsed (Handout)

Vera says she has spoken to nine different doctors, and claims they have all advised her to sign a death certificate so they can turn off life support.

Vera said: "When I showed her a video of her singing, or her sister doing something funny, then she was crying.

"It was a tear down her cheek. And sometimes her finger moved - a little bit, but she moved. After last Friday there was no response, no finger moves, nothing."

Vera claims she has resisted "pressurising" conversations", and added: "How can I sleep if I was not sure or not 100 per cent, how can I live later?"

Vera Spudiene with Donatas outside St Thomas' hospital in central London (Facundo Arrizabalaga)

Vera has also spoken to Archie Battersbea's mum Hollie Dance, who recently won a Court of Appeal fight to continue pursuing her son's case.

Vera has been forking out £75 a night to stay in a hostel, unable to work, 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."

Orinta Spudyte has been in hospital since June (Handout)

A Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson told The Mirror: “Orinta is currently receiving ongoing care in 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.”

Bancone operations director Lena Yong told The Mirror: "We are still shocked and upset about Orinta’s collapse in the restaurant. As soon as it happened, first aiders in the team rushed to help her, and we made the call to 999 within one minute.

"A team of four ambulances and paramedics arrived in less than 10 minutes. They acted quickly to attempt recovery. She was then taken to the hospital, and we stayed with her in another ambulance until she got to A&E. We were not allowed to enter the area and waited for news outside the hospital for more than three hours about our valued colleague.

"Four of us in the team attempted to contact her mother continuously when the incident happened until we reached her, the police helped us to trace her and brought her mum and sister to the hospital immediately to see Orinta and to speak to the doctors.

"We only got the chance to see them from a distance outside the hospital and did comfort her, but she was not ready to ask questions at that time. Her mum did not speak to us after this day, and she did not reach out even though we always attempted to contact her for support and comfort.

"We stayed connected with her sister every other day to get an update about her situation. We gave them time to reach out to us at their own convenience and we were always available for them and remain so today.

"We’re all traumatised by what happened with Orinta’s situation but she is in the best hands possible under the doctor’s care. We have checked the CCTV footage and sadly the incident happened in an area which we could not see the series of events. We were told by the paramedics that luckily it had happened in a public area and not somewhere where she could have been alone, and we acted quickly to get help for her to the best of everyone’s ability. We send all our love in our minds and hearts as we were not allowed to see her and wish her the speediest of recoveries."

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