There is outrage among a family in Bequia after the body of their mother was sent to a funeral home that was not of their choice. This was done by someone unauthorized to act as the family’s representative.
According to Keisha John in a recent interview with St Vincent Times, even with her mom’s body at the funeral home they requested, the torture she went through was just unbelievable.
In addition to having her blood pressure raised, she took Valium to get to sleep, ate nothing for a whole day and dealt with the police and lawyers.
John says this is something she does not wish for any family who has lost a loved one.
Read the unedited version of Keisha’s Allegations against Memorial Funeral Home
“My mom passed away at 12.15 on Sunday morning, on mothers day. They placed her body in the Bequia morgue, allowing me time to process the situation and everything until I made arrangements to take the body to a funeral home.
Apparently, on Sunday, at about 10.15, I received a call from Stephen Da Silva stating that he was in Bequia for a funeral and was taking my mom’s body because he understood that I had just lost her; how did he get my number I do not know.
I told Mr Da Silva, I’m still flustered, I’m trying to adjust, I’m not in any frame of mind to make any decisions. He said, Well, this number that I’m calling you from is my personal number so that you can save it. And when you do make a decision, contact me personally, and I’ll give you a free package. I said, okay, thank you.
He said, We have a box that we store at the mortuary in Bequia, so instead of sending a vehicle down, they put her in the box, put her on the ferry, and our vehicle will come and take her from the ferry to our funeral home. I said I don’t want to hear all of that because I had not made a decision yet. I haven’t even spoken to half of my family members. He said when you do; please call, I said okay, thank you.
I had my phone on the speaker; my brother was sitting next to me. He heard the whole conversation.
Well, Monday, I had to go and collect the death certificate from the doctor. So I went to the hospital thinking that my mom’s body was still in the morgue. I’m waiting on the doctor; New Heaven Funeral came down on the ten-thirty boat because I decided that’s the funeral home where her body will go.
So they came down on the ferry to receive the body, only to be told by an attendant that Stephen Da Silva had called and said that Keisha John permitted him to receive the body.
I’m like, What? Excuse me. I haven’t given any funeral home permission except New Haven to take my mom’s body. So I called the number that Steven had called me from the day before, and he confirmed yes, that he had the body, and he started doing embalming.
I said, but I didn’t give you permission. And he was pretty rude about it. Oh, yes. Yesterday, when we talked, you said I could take her body. I said, excuse me. I said I told you that I am flustered. I haven’t decided. And when I do, I’ll let you know. I never called you back.
He said, ” Well, he got word that it’s okay for him to take the body. I said, but I have the death certificate in my hand. I have her I.D. card. So I asked what name the body came up with, and he said liza, John. I said, excuse me, that’s not my mom’s name, I didn’t sign any paperwork with you, but you already started doing a process on my mom”.
Following this, he starts getting rude and ignorant and cuts the phone off. So I had to use another number and call him back, and after speaking to him, he said, well, he would like to talk to the person making the arrangements. I said you’re speaking to that person. I’m her daughter, and I’m the one who is making the funeral arrangements.
After he realized that am the one in charge, he said to come to the mainland and drop by his office and then we could have a conversation. I said I don’t want to have a conversation with you. All I want is my mother’s body.
It reached the point that after he kept cutting the call, I called him on a different number, and I told him, I’m on the 1:00 ferry to Kingstown, and I like to get my mother’s body so get it ready by the time I get there, and he cut the call again.
When I got to Kingstown, I was taken to the Mespo Police station, and I explained my story to the police; the police called him; he was very rude to the police, and he kept cutting the calls.
So I had to make some phone calls to a lawyer because he told me that my mom’s body was in his lawyer’s hand and to see him in court. After all, I decided not to pay him for his work on my mom. I told him I’m not paying you anything, not a red cent, because I have never permitted you to take her body.
I told him I would make my lawyers charge him for theft, fraud, and extortion. So I had a lawyer call him, I don’t know what the exchange was, but by 5:00 pm, he called the police station and said he was taking the body over to New Haven.
I was so insulted by him; he called me all sorts of ill names, He called me the devil, and that’s not very professional for a businessman.
I’ve heard people speak about him, but I’ve never met him. I only spoke with him by phone; if that’s the kind of business he’s running, he shouldn’t be.
My whole family was so distraught on Monday that my blood pressure increased. I did not eat anything, and on Monday night, I had to take a Valium to sleep. It was a horrible experience, and I don’t wish anybody to go through this.
With my story out there, I am hoping other people who encountered this will speak out against this hustling of bodies”.
