'That's not my mum': Funeral home’s SHOCKING mix-up leaves family devastated
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA: Dianne De Jager was left stunned when she arrived at her mother’s funeral and found the body in the casket wasn't her mother at all.
De Jager and more than 100 people were meant to give farewell to her mother, Margaret Locke, on August 1 at Adelaide's Enfield Memorial Park after she died aged 73. Locke was remembered as a loud, proud woman, a mother to four children, a grandmother to 13, and a great-grandmother to 12. But the proud woman never appeared at her farewell.
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To take a last look at her mother, when De Jager looked in the casket, she found herself looking at a complete stranger. As soon she realized the body in the casket is not of her mother, she rushed to convince the funeral director that it was definitely not her. But the staff reportedly said it was definitely her mother. The claims of the Adelaide funeral home’s staff made Jager pull out a photo of her mum on her deathbed from a week prior to convince the funeral director.
Ms De Jager told A Current Affair the whole ordeal made her feel sick and says the stranger's face is now etched in her memory. 'I said, "On the sixth time this is my f***ing mum, I know what my f***ing mum looks like" and then I got my phone and I got the picture up ... and I showed him.
'I zoomed the face in and I put it next to the lady in that coffin and I said, "That is not my mum",' De Jager said.
The photo made the director realize his mistake and apologize. But he insisted the family continue the funeral service despite of wrong body being present in the casket. The decision of proceeding with the funeral service left the Locke family devastated and made Jesse Thatcher, Margaret's grandson said the funeral should have been postponed so the service could've been held properly.
Clarke Family Funerals is the Adelaide-based company responsible for the error. In a statement to A Current Affairs, the company said it had come to an agreement with the Locke Family and is ready to compensate for the mistake made by their side.
'We have always strived to provide beautiful and respectful funerals that offer a lasting tribute but on Monday we fell well short of our own high standards,' a statement to A Current Affair said. We acknowledge the distress we have caused to the family by our error and sincerely apologize to them.
'Our mistake was identified just prior to the commencement of the service. Due to the distance between our funeral home and the location of the service, together with the number of people attending, the decision was made to proceed with the service as planned rather than postpone’, the statement reads further.