A Fife man whose granddaughter died suddenly just two days into her army career believes the family may finally be able to grieve properly after her body was cleared for release by a coroner.
Friday’s Courier revealed how Jim Park, from Cupar, had been left frustrated and angry at the authorities’ unwillingness to hand over Megan Park’s body more than a month after she passed away.
The 21-year-old, from Blackburn, collapsed and died during her first fitness run at a basic training camp at Pirbright Barracks in Surrey on September 16.
However, the length of time the investigation into her death was taking concerned Mr Park, who said he had a “gut feeling” the army had “something to hide”.
But following The Courier’s story, Mr Park revealed that the family has now been told Miss Park is believed to have died as a result of sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) and her body will be returned to her family today.
Plans are now being made for a proper funeral on November 4.
Mr Park said: “It’s something I had never heard of but we’re just relieved we can finally have a proper funeral for Megan.”
He added that it was still difficult to come to terms with his granddaughter’s death, given how fit she had been in the run-up to starting what the family has called her “dream job”.
She had started basic training as part of a 14-week course at Pirbright on the Monday of the week she died but collapsed two days later not long into a mile-and-a-half run to assess the fitness of new recruits.
SADS, which is also known as sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, occurs in around one in every 20 cases of sudden cardiac death, with the term being used where there is no definite cause of death even after the heart has been examined by an expert cardiac pathologist.
In response to Mr Park’s concerns about a cover-up, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said the army had “no say” over a body’s release and stressed that the authority had to come from the local coroner’s office once he/she is “satisfied that all procedures required by law had been carried out”.
“The army continues to offer advice and welfare support to Megan’s family now and for as long as they require it,” the spokesman added.
“They have had a family liaison officer appointed to assist with the passage of information.”