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A Christchurch mother whose daughter “rotted before her eyes” because she was not properly embalmed has been calling for changes in the laws since her nightmare experience.
Michelle Bishop’s 24-year-old daughter, Sharnae McLean, died in her sleep in August 2017, and her experience with Poppy Funerals “totally destroyed” her.
“When you see your daughter change color and rot before your eyes, it was horrible.
“It has left a lasting effect that I will never forget. No one should have to experience such a traumatic experience at the most vulnerable times in their lives. ”
CHRIS SKELTON / Things
Michelle Bishop is calling for regulation in the funeral industry after receiving a terrible service from Poppy Funerals following the death of her daughter Sharnae McLean, 24, in August 2017.
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The reports to the police and the pleas to the government, including a petition calling for regulation of the industry, had fallen on deaf ears, but he hoped the change was imminent.
The Health Ministry is conducting a review of the outdated Burial and Cremation Act of 1964, which currently offers grieving families little recourse when “things go wrong.”
Charges against funeral directors for failing to properly embalm the deceased, failing to bury the ashes of an elderly couple, and confusions that resulted in the wrong body being cremated and dismissed at a Hamilton funeral service, are noted in the consultation document.
CHRIS SKELTON / Things
Hillmorton Hospital nurse Sharnae McLean, 24, was about 10 weeks pregnant when she died in her sleep in 2017.
There have also been cases where funeral homes have received advance payments from clients, but then went into liquidation and failed to provide a refund.
A Palmerston North woman whose 12-year-old niece was killed in a car accident in 2018 said her family was still suffering from her “horrible” experience with a funeral director.
Due to the girl’s serious head injuries, the police and the forensic doctor had ordered the family not to see her after the accident. However, the woman, who asked not to be identified, said the funeral director assured the family that she looked “70 percent better than before” and that the distortion of her face and the missing part of her skull had been “well covered”.
Some family members who “felt uncomfortable” requested that they see her before they took her home to the rest of the family.
They were horrified to be directed to a private address where the coffin was in the hearse parked in a driveway.
“On his way to one of the busiest sections of Palmerston North, he opened the back of the hearse and opened our girl’s coffin.
“I had to take several looks at her since I couldn’t recognize her. I was traumatized by this event. It’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever had to do. “
He instructed the funeral director not to open the casket in the house, as he had planned to do, as it would be too distressing for the family.
“No one would want this to be the final image etched in their minds of our beautiful girl … He didn’t care about my family, he didn’t treat our girl with dignity and respect … Something definitely must. change. I don’t wish my experience on anyone. “
There were other failures, cheating and incompetencies, to the point where the family couldn’t take it anymore and changed funeral directors the day before his funeral, he said.
FDANZ CEO David Moger said the association was increasingly coming to the rescue of families who had been devastated by failed funerals.
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New Zealand Funeral Directors Association David Moger.
“We receive a growing number of complaints from people who call us on the phone without realizing that the person they want to complain about is not one of our members. Our members must comply with a set of standards, inspections and undergo a complaint process. “
Currently, beyond registration with a local authority, for which there are no grounds to reject an application, the profession voluntarily regulates itself and there are limited mechanisms to resolve disputes due to lack of transparency in prices or problems with the organization of a funeral.
In the Palmerston North case, an experienced funeral director would have explained why the girl could not be seen and would have arranged the casket so that they could hold her hand, without being able to see her injuries, in a private area, he said.
“There needs to be a level of regulation, otherwise we will find more inexperienced people who will join the market because the entry barriers are very low. In our opinion, it’s not something you can take a chance on. The importance of a meaningful goodbye: You can never stop seeing something went wrong. It can have a profound impact. “
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