Amazon warehouse employee dies on the job however household demand ‘the reality’
A warehouse worker’s family left reeling after his sudden death at work fear the inquest failed to explain the tragedy, with conflicting accounts and long delays in getting help
The family of an Amazon worker who died in hospital after collapsing during his shift at its warehouse is still seeking the truth about his death, two years after their tragic loss.
Martin Vaughan was working at the Ffordd Amazon site in Swansea when he collapsed mid-shift on September 20, 2023. He was taken to Morriston Hospital, where he tragically died the following day.
But the 52-year-old’s ex-partner, Claire Williams, believes the full story has yet to come out. “We’ve come away from the inquest feeling angry still…. I have a gut feeling that we don’t have the full information.”
Martin, from Water Street in Neath, had two children, Rhys and Caitlin, and still got on well with his ex-partner. Claire said her family would “never get over” losing Mr Vaughan.
“He’s left a huge hole in our hearts, because he was such a big character,” she said. “There’s not a day that goes by where we don’t talk about him, or one of the kids will do something and it will be like: ‘That’s your father, that is’. I don’t think we’ll ever get over losing Martin.”
The family were initially in complete confusion about what had happened. “We just did not know at that point,” she said. “We’d spoken to Martin at around teatime,” said Claire.
“Our daughter had found out she was pregnant two days before. He was doing overtime, and I said to him ‘You’d best do overtime, because the pram that she’s going to want is going to be expensive’, and we were laughing and joking about that.” However, in the evening, her daughter got a Facebook message that her dad was unwell.
“The next thing I know, Morriston Hospital had called Caitlin and said that she needed to come, and to bring the family with her, because Martin was unwell.” The mother and daughter rushed to the hospital but found he had already died.
“It was absolutely devastating. Although we weren’t still together, he was my go-to if I needed to moan, or he’d ring me if he needed something… Telling the kids was one of the worst things I’ve ever had to do in my life.”
A seven-day jury inquest at Swansea’s Guildhall this month heard witness statements that Martin had “appeared to be fine” but then suddenly collapsed, having suffered a cardiac arrest. There had been a 14-minute delay before someone discovered him, followed by a 32-minute delay in an ambulance reaching him, as it initially arrived at the site’s lorry park.
Security guards had helped make the 999 call. Mr Vaughan’s medical cause of death was given as ventricular cardiac arrhythmia caused by heart hypertrophy.
The jury found there had been a delay in a ‘red priority response’ ambulance service call but ruled the delay hadn’t contributed to his death. Their conclusion was death by natural causes.
Nevertheless, Claire and her family believe the inquest failed to find the full truth. “I questioned all the witness statements, every one was different..
“Although we know what happened, because we have seen CCTV, the questions the jury was asked were nothing to do with what happened at Amazon. We’ve come away from the inquest feeling angry still.
“Yes, we have a cause of death for Martin, but maybe if we hadn’t had a jury, the coroner would have ruled different. I intend to seek legal advice.
“I have a gut feeling that we don’t have the full information. I need someone to tell me that ‘there’s nothing else they could have done’, but until I hear that from someone professional, other than Amazon, I will take the verdict, and the kids will take it.”
A spokesman for Amazon said: “We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident and our thoughts remain with Martin’s family and friends. We’re continuing to support colleagues with anything they need.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
