Toronto, Canada, May 30, 2004 / 22:00 pm
An aboriginal woman is considering legal action after she received the remains of her miscarried baby in the mail, reported the National Post.
Corrine Jeremiah miscarried shortly before her due date, March 30, at Thunder Bay Regional Hospital. She requested that the fetus be returned to her community at North Caribou Lake First Nation for burial.
However, her baby’s body was sent through the mail, more than five weeks after the miscarriage. The body was in the post office for six days before its contents were discovered in an advanced state of decay, reported the Post.
The young mother was reportedly “hysterical” when she discovered the box.
“We are calling for a full police investigation and a coroner’s inquest into this shocking incident,” said North Caribou Lake First Nation chief Zeb Kenequanash. “The family is also considering civil action against the Health Center, the Ontario Ministry of Health and other appropriate parties.
“It’s something that must be addressed,” Kenequanash said. “You can’t just ship a person, regardless of their age, through the mail.”
The Post reported that hospital procedure requires that a body be transported in a cooler and accompanied by a hospital official, with the parents consulted on all arrangements. Instead, the body was put in a box with stickers that said “room temperature” and “diagnostic specimen.”
The band’s social service administrator reportedly called the hospital and found out that there was a new worker at the hospital and she was the one who put the body in the mail.