Letizia Ciampi, 47, was discharged twice from hospital in Fuerteventura on New Year’s Eve after experiencing breathing difficulties and chest pain
A holidaymaker tragically lost her life in a Spanish rental flat after being discharged from hospital twice.
Letizia Ciampi began to suffer from breathing difficulties and chest pain shortly after her flight touched down on the morning of 31 December. A friend accompanied her to A&E where she underwent an X-ray examination.
Despite her symptoms, doctors reportedly found her to be in good health and discharged her, attributing her condition to stress. They recommended further tests upon her return home, assuring her there was no immediate cause for concern.
However, back at her rented accommodation in Corralejo, Fuerteventura, her symptoms persisted. Later that afternoon, she was taken back to the hospital via ambulance, only to be discharged once more after receiving intravenous fluids and medication.
She later sent a final message to her friend, expressing that she didn’t feel well enough to attend their planned New Year’s Eve dinner. On 1 January, her friend, who resides on Fuerteventura, tried to contact her but received no response, reports the Mirror.
Worried, he attempted to reach out to the landlord of the flat, managing to make contact only the following day.
Firefighters were called to force entry into the property, which had been locked from the inside. The 47 year old was discovered lifeless on the bed, with traces of blood visible on the sheet.
Letizia, who hailed from Bagno a Ripoli near Florence, Italy, worked as a sales agent for a food company.
She was athletic, health-conscious, a gym-goer, and enjoyed playing padel. She had also dabbled in politics, once standing for office in Florence with Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right People of Freedom party.
She had journeyed to Fuerteventura for a brief winter sun holiday and to visit a friend. “Never a warning sign, just a bit of flu in the days before leaving for the Canaries,” her heartbroken friend Patrizia Faraoni told Italian press.
“But if she went to the emergency room there twice, it clearly means she was really unwell.”
Spanish officials have ordered a post-mortem, set for today, to ascertain whether her death was a tragic accident or a case of medical negligence.
Italian press have speculated that she may have suffered a pulmonary embolism or pulmonary oedema that doctors failed to identify. Her mother told Italian media: “She was all I had, it was just the two of us, my beloved daughter. I don’t know how to go on.”