When paramedics turned up at Sarah Shanks’ home in the early hours of 20th January 2023, nothing about the scene made sense. The 38-year-old mother of two was found alone, unconscious on the driveway, struggling to breathe. She never woke up, and nine days later, she passed away in the hospital.
More than a year on, her death is still surrounded by questions—and now, two separate lawsuits are pulling the tragedy in different directions, according to USA Today.
Her husband, Ryan Shanks, an A&E doctor, blames the emergency services and hospital staff, claiming their failures ultimately cost Sarah her life. In his lawsuit, he says paramedics from American Medical Response and the local fire service failed to intubate her properly, didn’t perform CPR in time, and delayed her transport to the hospital. He argues that if they’d followed proper protocol, Sarah would still be here.
But Sarah’s family paints a very different picture. In their own lawsuit, they accuse Ryan of being controlling and desperate to stop Sarah from going through with a divorce. They say she had borrowed money to hire a solicitor and had told friends Ryan thought divorce would be “inconvenient” and “unaffordable.” According to their claims, he’d even gone as far as cloning her phone.
That night, they say the couple argued after Ryan allegedly called her parents separately to say he was considering buying a gun and had suicidal thoughts. Hours later, Sarah told Ryan she’d fallen in the bathroom and injured her neck. She was reportedly panicking and struggling to breathe. Eventually, she went outside, possibly to avoid disturbing their sleeping children. That’s where paramedics found her—alone and unresponsive.
Twelve minutes after their arrival, Sarah went into cardiac arrest. Her blood tests showed dangerously low oxygen levels. Hospital staff raised concerns after scans showed signs of tissue damage around her neck and an abnormal air pocket in her chest. An MRI later confirmed she’d suffered a severe brain injury due to a lack of oxygen.
Despite all this, Knox County’s Chief Medical Examiner concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to determine how Sarah died. The post-mortem didn’t rule out foul play but couldn’t prove it either. The district attorney also declined to press charges, calling the case “highly suspicious” but ultimately “untenable.”
Ryan has denied all allegations. His lawyer labelled the family’s claims as “false, defamatory and malicious” and filed a motion to have the case dismissed. Now, with two grieving families locked in legal battle and no clear answers, the only thing everyone agrees on is this: Sarah should still be alive.
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