A devastated husband has described the moment he was presented with the wrong body while saying goodbye to his late wife. Phil Duggan, 74, bent down to kiss the woman he believed was Rita Maher, his wife of 26 years, only to realise it was not her.
The Shocking Discovery
Phil said: 'I thought, "Hang on a minute, this isn't Rita." Rita's hair was blonde, going white. Her hair was black. I was devastated. I almost kissed this poor woman. I couldn't believe it. How the hell did they make a mistake like this?'
Rita's daughter, Michelle Maher, 42, explained that when the family visited the funeral home on Friday afternoon (June 6), they were presented with a woman of similar age to 65-year-old Rita, but with different height and hair colour, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.
A Mother's Final Moments
Michelle said she initially did not recognise the error and 'stroked the woman's leg'. Arthur Gresty funeral directors in Trafford, Greater Manchester, has since apologised for the mistake and launched an investigation.
Michelle recalled: 'My head was gone. I think that's why I didn't realise at first. I stroked her leg and said "I'm here mum" but it wasn't my mum. I started crying and shouting "Why does my mum look like this?" I was in shock. My sister went in the room and started screaming "That's not my mother". I felt sick. I couldn't get my breath.'
Aftermath and Apology
Rita Maher, of Wythenshawe, died aged 65. After the funeral home discovered their mistake, a manager arrived and offered the family an apology. Following approximately 10 minutes, they were permitted to see their mum.
Rita, a mother of six and grandmother of 27, passed away on June 1 at Moya Cole Hospice in Heald Green, Manchester. Michelle added: 'She was the light of our lives. She was like a mother to all her grandchildren. If anybody needed anything, no matter what Rita was going through, she was there for you. It's a massive loss.'
'Now all I can see is this little lady's face. I can't get it out of my head.'
Funeral Home Response
A spokesperson for Arthur Gresty Funeral Homes in Altrincham said: 'We are deeply sorry that this distressing incident has occurred and have offered our sincere apologies to the family affected. We have established procedures in place to ensure the correct identification of those in our care, and we are conducting a thorough investigation to understand how this happened.'
'At this stage, our initial findings suggest that the incident resulted from human error. We have also contacted the family of the deceased person who was shown in error to inform them of what occurred and to offer our apologies.'
'We recognise the trust families place in us at an extremely difficult time and are committed to understanding what went wrong and taking any necessary steps to prevent a recurrence.'
