Harrowing final moments of mum who died from agonising 'heat stress' in desert

A devastated family are suing an addiction centre after a mum died of 'heat stress' while wandering the streets in baking hot 41C conditions.

Melissa Gallia, 50, was found dead just days after she checked herself into a rehab facility for her alcohol problems. The mother-of-two was discovered in a car park near Sunrise and Medical Centre inlast July after suffering heat exhaustion, a condition triggered by the body's reaction to extreme high temperatures. She had been transferred to the hospital by the centre within a couple of days of checking herself in after suffering hallucinations, but was quickly discharged to her home after displaying what medical records allegedly described as '-seeking' behaviour.

A lawsuit launched by her family in the aftermath of her death has described the treatment she received from both the rehab and the hospital as "outrageous, wilful, wanton, reckless and malicious", with one line of the complaint reading: "In sum, Melissa Gallia died, and died alone, in a parking lot adjacent to Sunrise Hospital due to the actions and inactions of the Defendants."

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According to the legal documents seen by the Las Vegas Review Journal, Ms Gallia developed an alcohol problem following the death of her mother, and had sought help from the Dessert Hope late in the evening on June 29 last year.

She handed over her belongings, and signed papers giving consent for the rehab to discuss her medical information with her husband, father and the hospital.

Her family was given an update the next morning after she began being administered medication, but her symptoms sharply worsened, and by the end of the day she told staff she was "seeing things moving".

"Worsening" visual hallucinations followed overnight, and workers eventually called the emergency services after Ms Gallia began displaying "restless" behaviour.

According to the complaint, she was taken to Sunrise Hospital at 5.54am on July 1, but was not admitted until 11.06am, was discharged less than 30 minutes later.

In her medical records, it was stated doctors had diagnosed her with a "urinary infection" and mentioned her being seen at an "outside facility but not prescribed antibiotics".

It is alleged medics at Sunrise Hospital did not receive vital information about her condition, and had no record of her insurance or employment.

Ms Gallia was recorded as having showed "drug seeking behaviour" and was discharged to home - something which her family says should never have happened.

That same day, she was found "lying on the ground" and "unresponsive" in a car park near the hospital, and was pronounced dead at 6.52pm after having suffered "environmental heat stress."

Robert Murdock, an attorney representing Gallia’s family, said her case showed "issue upon issue, problem upon problem" from both the treatment centre and hospital, and stated that the law clearly showed that you "can’t just discharge somebody and throw them out on the street". The family's lawsuit for wrongful death is seeking unspecified damages.