Novichok victim’s heart stopped for 30 minutes and devastated son fears she may be brain-damaged

THE son of Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess fears she may have been left brain-damaged after her heart stopped for 30 minutes.

Teen Ewan Hope says his mum is only alive thanks to quick-thinking paramedics, following her heart attack.

Speaking to the 19-year-old revealed he has been to see Dawn, 44, who is under police guard on a life-support machine at Salisbury General Hospital.

He said he wore gloves up to his elbows to stroke her hair and hold her hand.

Ewan said: “I told her, ‘I love you, mum. I just want you to wake up and get better’.

“I’m worried I’m going to lose mum.

“They said she had the same symptomsas the Skripals, including foaming at the mouth. Things are worse for mum though as they said the Skripals didn’t have heart attacks.”

He said he is desperate for the Russian nerve agent so that another family do not have to suffer.

Ewan – whose comments come after Dawn’s mum spoke out about her treatment – said the whole family are scared.

A family friend says Caroline Sturgess claims her daughter is not being given the same care as the Skripals because she is a “nobody alcoholic”.

She has also reportedly slammed cops for “keeping the family in the dark” about how she fell ill – claiming they were told she had a heart attack.

Dawn, 44, and partner Charlie Rowley, 45, are currently fighting for their lives in hospital as police desperately hunt for the deadly vial of Novichok.

The two alcohol and drug users are feared to be close to death in hospital as it emerged they may have come into contact with the poison while scouring bins for things to sell.

The close pal has now revealed all about Dawn and how the mum-of-three’s life spiralled out of control after suffering post-natal depression.

Speaking about Dawn’s mum, the friend told : “Caroline is in really bad shock. She can’t believe it.

“She has taken three weeks off work and she visited Dawn again on Friday. Dawn and Charlie are unconscious in isolation and all the visitors have to look at them through glass.

“They are in the same ward but not in parallel beds. Dawn is not breathing for herself and she’s on a respirator. The doctors said that it’s not looking good and that she might not survive.

“She’s on the brink of death, basically. She’s done a lot of abuse to her body already.”

The pal claims Caroline has hit out at staff at Salisbury District Hospital for treating them like “second-class citizens” because of their addictions.

They added: “She feels that Dawn is not getting the same quality of treatment as the Skripals because of her background and the fact she’s an alcoholic. She’s seen as a nobody, really.”

It is thought MI6 agent Sergei Skripal’s assassins “recklessly lobbed away” the vial away after daubing the Novichok on his front door.

Him and daughter Yulia have both recovered after being found slumped on a park bench in Salisbury on March 4.

Caroline, who works at RAF base Boscombe Down, is the main carer for Dawn’s ten-year-old daughter while her husband Stephen is said to have a “difficult” relationship with the alcoholic.

Dawn’s two sons, Aidan, 23, and Ewan, 19, live with their father Andrew Hope, 46.

But friend claims they have “become immune” because Dawn has spent so much time in hospital.

They explained how Dawn switched from a popular pupil at Durrington school in Wiltshire to a homeless alcoholic due to post-natal depression when Aidan was born.

The pal said: “Her personality changed. She became like a zombie. She didn’t care about anything and just let everything go. She started smoking weed and over the course of time she turned to harder drugs.”

Mum-of three Dawn lives in a homeless hostel 300 yards from the Zizzi restaurant where MI6 mole Sergei and daughter Yulia ate before they collapsed.

Dawn and Charlie were both taken to Salisbury District Hospital, where the Skripals spent weeks before regaining consciousness.

Initially it was assumed they had fallen victim to a bad batch of heroin currently circulating in Wiltshire.

However, two days later the alarm was raised after medics grew suspicious about effects on the couple.

Scientists from the Government’s nearby defence research centre Porton Down later confirmed they had been poisoned with Novichok.

Sun Online has contacted Wiltshire Police and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust for comment.