A daughter has told of the awful moment her mum was struck by lightning as they sheltered under a tree after a storm broke at the end of an "amazing" holiday in Croatia. In an emotional tribute to popular physiotherapy and pilates instructor Daniella DiMambro, who had her own studio in Nottingham, daughter Emily DiMambro-Mosscrop recalls the life-changing day when the freak incident happened on a beach in Croatia - and she lost her mum forever.
Eighteen-year-old Emily and her brother, 15, had set out on a last-minute backpacking two-week trip to the country with their mum on August 8. Their first destination was the city of Dubrovnik, in southern Croatia fronting the Adriatic Sea, and they island-hopped before reaching Split, Croatia's second-largest city.
Emily, who has lived in Nottingham all her life, told Nottinghamshire Live she went with her mum for a two-hour walk around a national park before they sunbathed on Kasjuni Beach, throwing down their towels on the sand.
Read more: Nottingham mum Daniella DiMambro dies after she was struck by lightning on holiday in Croatia
Daniella, 48, had got out a book to read when the storm broke so they packed up their belongings and headed to a rocky area and sheltered under a tree. "Mum said, 'wait it out until the sun comes out again," said Emily.
They did not hear or see the lightning until it happened - there was a big flash and then a second - when she believes - but can't be 100% certain - she was hit too, as she blacked out and woke up. Only her hearing was affected, but her mum was "absolutely out of it", she recalls, "she just wasn't there".
"I thought, 'this really is not good, I definitely thought she had been struck by lightning. It made sense".
She tried to call emergency services on her mobile but they did not understand Emily's English, so she raced to a beach bar to find someone to speak Croatian and summon an ambulance.
One ambulance arrived quickly - they were in the area for a sporting event - and 48-year-old Daniella was taken to hospital in an ambulance separate to her daughter. "I honestly thought she was dead at that point," said Emily. "Five minutes into the ambulance ride, I found out she was alive, which was a relief".
Daniella spent eight days in intensive care in Croatia's KBC Split hospital, whilst her daughter bravely sorted out her repatriation with the British Consulate in Croatia - who were calling her four times a day to check on her and her brother.
Emily secured her mum's flight home in just eight days, it can take longer. Daniella was deemed fit to fly, with Emily also sorting everything out with the insurance company which footed the bill for the flight and medical care home on an air ambulance flight, with her own private medical team from Germany.
The tragedy happened on August 20, two days before the family was due to fly back to Luton Airport. But instead, her brother was flown home separately, as Emily made arrangements for her mum to have medical care in the UK.
After the air ambulance team arrived at East Midlands airport, Daniella was taken to City Hospital, Nottingham, to ICU where she spent four weeks. Doctors in Croatia had assured Emily her mum was going to make a full recovery - but once back in her homeland, and after more tests - the heartbreaking news was broken to the family.
"She was never going to be able to move again", said Emily. Her Manchester-born mum loved festivals and dancing, and was on her feet all day in her profession.
"She was the most incredible individual; full of life and energy," added Emily. "She was great". Despite her tender years, Emily knew that living the way her mum would have to in the future would be unfair to her.
Daniella had suffered a heart attack at the scene and her brain had been starved of oxygen.
An inquest in Nottingham on Wednesday (October 19) heard Daniella's family sought an expert opinion from a specialist in London - the specialist agreeing the prognosis was "poor" - and she was unlikely to make significant neurological improvement. After discussion with her family, including her brother and her parents, this led to a decision that 'neurological pathway' care, as advised by treating clinicians, was the most acceptable way forward.
Emily did not get to speak to her mum again - her eyes were open - but she could not move her face. "It looked like she was going to cry," remembers Emily.
"She remained in ICU. I thought this is 'just not fair to her'. She would absolutely hate that. If she was in her head, if she knew what was going on. She would hate that.
"The doctors said, 'take the life support off and breathing tube out'. Because she was really fit, she continued to breathe on her own. At that point they took the breathing tube out and put her on hydration". Daniella was on end of life care, and Emily was with her mum for a week-and-a-half before she died.
"It lasted eight days," said Emily, "then she left us". Daniella, of Mansfield Road, Nottingham, went to Fairfield High School for Girls, in Droylsden, Greater Manchester.
She studied at Hyde Sixth Form College (school year 1993) gaining A-Levels in Physics, Chemistry and Biology, before her BSc in Physiotherapy at Sheffield Hallam University, then her Masters at UCL.
She worked across the country - at Newcastle General Hospital, Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Manchester Royal Infirmary. She was a former sports physiotherapist at West Yorkshire sports injury clinic, Bradford, and Senior Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist at Queensbury Physiotherapy Practice, Bradford.
She spent a year working for GPs, private physiotherapy practices and Hope Hospital, in her home city of Manchester, – covering A&E, specialist leg rehabilitation and osteoarthritis services. She also covered Manchester Dental Hospital and an increasing number of referrals for jaw treatments gave her the topic that led to her award-winning Master's dissertation.
"Everyone loves her"
She moved to Nottingham in 2002, providing full-time in-house physiotherapy services for Toyota in Derby, then a self-employed subcontractor at a private clinic in West Bridgford, before she became an on-site occupational health outpatient contract for Bombardier Transportation UK, treating 3,000 + employees. She set up her practice on January 15, 2008.
READ MORE: 13-year-old died 'sudden cardiac death' after collapsing at football match
Emily said: "She was really caring to everyone. Everyone loves her. She lived and breathed her business. Without her people wouldn't come, because she wasn't just any physio, she was amazing, and she just helped everyone and she would get presents from her clients to say 'thank you'.
"She was a happy-go-lucky person, always going with the flow. I couldn't wish for a better person to raise me. She was my best friend. I told her everything".
Senior coroner for Nottinghamshire, Mairin Casey, recorded a narrative conclusion at the inquest. "Her death was due to a lightning strike, leading to cardiac arrest and hypoxic ischemic brain injury," she said.
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