THE sudden death of a young Radcliffe restaurant manager who dreamed of running her own business has left medical experts baffled.

Stephanie Ann Tong, aged 20, is believed to have collapsed and died as she was preparing to go to work on the night shift of McDonald's restaurant.

She was found lifeless in her bedroom at the home she shared with her father and brother in Prince's Avenue, Little Lever, in October last year.

An inquest into her death on Monday heard that a post mortem examination has been unable to establish the cause of her death.

She may have died from electrical abnormalities in her body which may have caused her heart to stop beating.

The Bolton inquest was told that Miss Tong was found dead the day after she had returned home from working a night shift at McDonald's in Radcliffe, where she was shift manager.

Pathologist Isabelle Hanson said she had been unable to establish a cause of death.

Dr Hanson said Miss Tong had no physical abnormalities or heart disease, there was no suggestion of an asthma attack and tests for drugs and alcohol had proved negative.

The Coroner, Mrs Jennifer Leeming, was told that the day before her death, Miss Tong had started her shift at 3.30pm and returned home in the early hours of the morning.

The following afternoon, her brother David came home from work and a short time later one of Stephanie's colleagues called to ask where she was.

When David went into her bedroom just after 4.30pm, he found her motionless on the bed and an ambulance crew confirmed she was dead.

Her family believe she had got up to have a shower before going back to work and collapsed suddenly.

"It must have been very sudden. She didn't have any time to shout or phone," said Dr Hanson.

She said Miss Tong's death was possibly caused by an electrical abnormality in her body which led her heart to stop beating, but which could not be detected in a post mortem examination. Mrs Hanson recommended that Miss Tong's three brothers be tested by doctors as there is a possibility that electrical heart problems could run in families.

Recording a verdict of unascertained natural causes, Mrs Leeming said: "It is always difficult when we can't say: 'This is what it is'. All we know is, what it wasn't."

Speaking after the inquest, Miss Tong's father Brian paid tribute to his daughter, a former pupil at Mount St Joseph's School.

She had joined McDonald's after completing a business studies course and had dreamed of running her own branch. "She was a wonderful girl."

Since his daughter's death, he had researched the subject of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. "It is more common than you might think. It is just like the lights being switched off," he said.

cal abnormalities in her body which may have caused her heart to stop beating.

The Bolton inquest was told that Miss Tong was found dead the day after she had returned home from working a night shift at McDonald's in Radcliffe, where she was shift manager.

Pathologist Isabelle Hanson said she had been unable to establish a cause of death.

Dr Hanson said Miss Tong had no physical abnormalities or heart disease, there was no suggestion of an asthma attack and tests for drugs and alcohol had proved negative.

The Coroner, Mrs Jennifer Leeming, was told that the day before her death, Miss Tong had started her shift at 3.30pm and returned home in the early hours of the morning.

The following afternoon, her brother David came home from work and a short time later one of Stephanie's colleagues called to ask where she was.

When David went into her bedroom just after 4.30pm, he found her motionless on the bed and an ambulance crew confirmed she was dead.

Her family believe she had got up to have a shower before going back to work and collapsed suddenly.

"It must have been very sudden. She didn't have any time to shout or phone," said Dr Hanson.

She said Miss Tong's death was possibly caused by an electrical abnormality in her body which led her heart to stop beating, but which could not be detected in a post mortem examination. She recommended that Miss Tong's three brothers be tested by doctors as there was a possibility that electrical heart problems could run in families.

Recording a verdict of unascertained natural causes, Mrs Leeming said: "It is always difficult when we can't say: 'This is what it is'. All we know is, what it wasn't."

Speaking after the inquest, Miss Tong's father Brian paid tribute to his daughter, a former pupil at Mount St Joseph's School.

She had joined McDonald's after completing a business studies course and had dreamed of running her own branch. "She was a wonderful girl," he said.

Since his daughter's death, he had researched the subject of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. "It is more common than you might think. It is just like the lights being switched off," he said.