Investigation launched into rotting corpses at Wismar Mortuary

Mar 23, 2010 News

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Chief Executive Officer of the Linden Hospital Complex, Gordon Gumbs, has said that an investigation has been launched into reports of rotting corpses at the Wismar Mortuary.
At least two families have expressed shock at the state of the corpses of their relatives housed at the facility, within the past week.
In both cases, the bodies were so decomposed that they were rendered impossible for viewing.

Yesterday, Eartha St Kitts reported to this newspaper that her mother, Ivy Mingo, died at the Mackenzie Hospital on Tuesday last. St Kitts said that arrangements were made to have her mother kept at the Wismar Mortuary. The woman said given the fact that most of her relatives live abroad, they did not go to the Mortuary to see the corpse even while they were awaiting the arrival of other relatives. To their surprise, when they arrived at the Mortuary on Sunday her mother’s remains were badly decomposed.
St Kitts said that her mother died as a result of cardiac arrest and when they saw the body on Sunday it was discoloured, bloated, and had blood oozing from the ears, eyes and mouth.
Amidst tears, St Kitts said that the stench was unbearable.
The woman said since the family is awaiting the arrival of other relatives they were forced to make arrangements with another funeral home to keep her mother’s remains.
“We then had to pay $3,500 to the Wismar Mortuary before they released my mother’s body and then we had to pay to transport the body from Linden to Sandy’s Funeral Home in Georgetown,” St Kitts added. She said the cost alone to transport her mother’s body to the city was $30,000.
“Around noon today (yesterday) we got a call from Sandy’s and they were enquiring from us if we were aware that the body had already spoiled.” The woman said now they have incurred unnecessary expense since they now have to embalm her mother’s remains.
And the relatives of 56-year-old Cheryl Allsopp were devastated when they turned up at the Mortuary last Sunday to bury their dead, only to find that the woman’s body was bloated and the eyes were worm-infested.
The family was forced to bury the dead without a viewing, disappointing dozens of relatives, many of whom travelled from overseas for the funeral.
Cheryl Allsopp died two Saturdays ago of heart complications.
Her body was transported to the Mortuary. But even then, relatives had observed the callous nature in which the body was being handled.
“Number one, the hearse drove wild. When she reached the Mortuary, she was off the trolley and the cloth they used to tie her with was loose,” the dead woman’s daughter, Samantha Farrell, told this newspaper.
On Wednesday, relatives checked on Allsopp’s body and according to Farrell, everything was okay.
However, on Sunday, with all funeral arrangements in place, relatives went to collect the body for burial, only to find that it had decomposed.
“It was unrecognisable. The skin was peeling and it was oozing liquid through the eyes. There were worms in the eyes,” Farrell told this newspaper. She said that no one attempted to explain what the problem was.
According to Farrell, normally whenever the mortuary’s freezer malfunctioned, the authorities will inform relatives and give them the option of removing the body to a better facility or provide ice. This was not done.
“We learnt that once somebody died of a heart attack, extra care must be taken to store the body properly and this was not done,” Farrell said.
“We had to bury the body without a viewing. Some people come from the USA, Canada, Barbados, some who haven’t seen my mother for over 20 years. It’s very disappointing,” a disturbed Farrell added.
One of the overseas mourners, Velma Benjamin, the dead woman’s sister who resides in Canada, told Kaieteur News that by no stretch of imagination should one’s relative’s body be treated in that manner.
“I could not even see her face. It was deplorable and I am traumatised,” Benjamin said. But more traumatised are the relatives who actually saw the body.
“My nieces cannot sleep because of the image that is in their minds. Somebody has to pay for this,” Benjamin stated. Normally relatives of persons whose corpse is stored at the facility are asked to pay a fee but on both occasions no fee was demanded. The family may be seeking legal advice on the matter with a view to ensuring that no other family suffers a similar fate.
Meanwhile, when contacted, the Chief Executive Officer of Linden Hospital Complex, Gumbs, said that the administration has received a few reports of rotting bodies at the mortuary. Gumbs said that an investigation was launched and it was found that one of the two units (fridge) in the mortuary is down.
He said that currently the hospital is trying to acquire a compressor from Georgetown. The unit should be operational some time later this week, he said.
Gumbs added that an investigation has also been launched to ascertain why the temperature of the Unit was not recorded over the weekend as is required of those on duty at the time.
“If this was done then we would have known if the unit was working as it should,” Gumbs explained. He further offered an apology to the bereaved families.

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