A 28-year-old Greek heiress, Marissa Laimou, also known as Lemos, has died in London, United Kingdom following what her mother claims was a fatal reaction to an insect bite after being turned away from two hospitals.
Marissa, who survived breast cancer in the past, was discovered lifeless in her bed on September 11 by her housekeeper. Greek media report she first developed dizziness, fever, itching, and other signs of infection after suffering insect bites.
A doctor who visited her at home prescribed paracetamol, but her condition worsened. She later went to a London hospital and also saw her oncologist, who arranged for her to be taken to another hospital by ambulance.
Family members allege that at the second hospital, nurses, rather than doctors, examined her and concluded she did not need to be admitted. She was discharged in the evening with antibiotics and a diagnosis that linked her condition to an insect bite. The next day, she was found dead in her apartment.
Her mother, Bessy Laimou, told Greek media that toxic shock caused by the bite killed her daughter. “My daughter had survived cancer and died from an insect. She was a girl with so many gifts, all of England is crying, all her doctors too,” she said.
The hospital involved has reportedly acknowledged a “serious mistake” and launched an internal investigation. An autopsy is pending and will take about a week.
Friends described Marissa as talented, modest, and deeply committed to the arts. She had recently staged a production of Romeo and Juliet in London and was working on a new theatre project. Before founding her company, Rainbow Wave, which introduced international brands to London, she worked with fashion designers Sonia Rykiel and John Galliano in Paris.
The Laimos family, one of the most prominent names in Greek shipping with roots dating back to the early 20th century, is now mourning the loss of their daughter, a young woman whose life connected the worlds of fashion, theatre, and high society.
