A family in New Mexico are suing a funeral home after their grandmother’s brain was sent to them in a bag of personal belongings following the woman’s death, it was reported recently.
The Albuquerque Journal reported that the grisly discovery was made after family members noticed a “foul odor” coming from a bag sent to them by the DeVargas Funeral Home and Crematory in Espanola Valley.
The allegation was contained in a lawsuit filed on behalf of four family members in a District Court in Albuquerque, the paper reported.
According to the report, the bag had been left inside a family member’s truck overnight. When family members opened it they found personal effects and a bag labeled with her name reading “brain,” the lawsuit alleged.
“Wouldn’t you agree that it was a horrible mistake?” Albuquerque attorney Richard Valle told the paper. “No loved one’s brain should ever be part of those belongings.”
The brain has since been buried with the woman’s body.
Funeral home owner Johnny DeVargas insisted his business was not to blame, pointing the finger at another entity in Utah.
“All I can say is DeVargas did absolutely nothing wrong and that the family was well cared for,” he was quoted by the paper as saying.
“The family was very meticulously cared for and they were very pleased with our service.”
The woman, who was identified only by her initials in the lawsuit, was killed in a car accident in Utah in September.(AFP)
近日一則報導指出，美國新墨西哥州一戶人家控告一間葬儀社在他們祖母往生後，竟把她的腦子當作私人遺物裝袋寄還給他們。
《阿布奎基日報》報導，這家人聞到西班牙谷「瓦格斯葬儀社暨火葬場」寄來的袋子傳出一股「惡臭」後，才發現這件恐怖的事。
報導指出，這一家四口在阿布奎基地方法院對上述指控提出告訴。
該報導表示，這袋物品被置放在一名家人的後車廂一夜。訴狀說，這家人打開袋子後，發現裡面裝了一些私人遺物，和一包標示著祖母名字及「腦子」字樣的袋子。
阿布奎基律師理查．瓦勒受訪時表示：「你也同意這是個令人毛骨悚然的錯誤吧？往生至親的腦子不該被當成遺物的一部分。」
這袋大腦事後已與婦人的遺體同葬。
葬儀社業主強尼．瓦格斯堅稱，這個錯誤跟他們公司無關，並把矛頭指向猶他州另一間公司。
報導中引述他的話說：「我僅能表示，瓦格斯葬儀社絕對沒有半點錯，對這家人也提供了完善貼心的照顧。」
「我們對這家人提供極為週到的服務，他們也對我們的服務感到很滿意。」
這名婦人去年九月在猶他州一起車禍中喪生，該訴訟案中僅透露她姓名的首字母。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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