Family buries wrong man after mix-up at funeral home
A family has unknowingly buried the wrong person after a mix-up at a funeral parlour, resulting in the body being exhumed and a cremation being put on hold.
The nightmarish mistake happened in the United Kingdom, with two deceased pensioners just a year apart in age somehow having their identities swapped.
The younger man was buried by the other man’s family on July 6 at St Mary’s Church in Rockcliffe village, near Carlisle, according to the News and Star, and mourners had no idea the wrong body was in the coffin.
The mistake wasn’t realised until the following day, when staff from Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary called the funeral home and asked when the body of the man who was supposed to be buried would be collected.
The first body then had to be exhumed on July 15, nine days after the funeral. He was meant to have been cremated on July 13, but due to the mix-up it was pushed back a week, the News and Star reported.
After the younger man’s body was exhumed, the man who was meant to be buried at St Mary’s church was laid to rest in his correct grave.
Mortuary staff are being spoken to and an investigation is underway, a North Cumbria Integrated Care Foundation NHS Trust spokesperson confirmed to the publication.
A spokesperson for the funeral director also offered a statement, and said nothing like this had happened in the company’s 150 year history.
“Clearly, something has gone terribly wrong. We handed in paperwork for the man whose body we believed we were collecting. There are protocols to ensure we have who we think we have,” the spokesperson said.
“We didn’t realise we had another person’s body. We feel for the families.”
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