Singer’s death due to natural causes

Press, 28 March 1980, Page 11

Singer’s death due to natural causes

fPA Auckland ,‘f- An American singer died ffifrom “obscure natural "causes” after collapsing on ■ an aircraft between Honolulu iand Auckland, the Auckland •Coroner (Mr A. D. Copeland) mas found. i Dolores Elizabeth Patterson, aged 39, of Los Angeles, member of the Platters •group, died at Middlemore ’Hospital on January 17 after being taken in a waiting ambulance from Auckland Airport. i Donald Lee Wyatt, an entertainer in the group, said in

a statement that fellow members of the group had been teasing her about how long she had been sleeping. She had got out of her seat and complained her legs were numb. She had stretched her legs in the aisle and had joked with a steward about jogging in the aircraft, then collapsed on top of Mr Wyatt. Two doctors travelling on the flight gave her cardiac massage and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until the aircraft reached Auckland 40 minutes later.

A Middlemore Hospital.report said that resuscitation

had been continued after the arrival of the aircraft for about an hour. The Coroner said a Government analyst had found no alcohol in the blood of Miss Patterson, nor common poisons or drugs. No abnormality considered sufficient to cause death had been found.

The report said there had been.no sign of physical injury and it was presumed death had resulted from a disturbance in the cardiac rhythm; the Coroner said. The analyst was satisfied death had been due to natural causes.