A much-loved grandad's body decomposed at a funeral home over the weekend when a fridge switched off. Devastated family members were told they are no longer be able to visit Uriah Pryce, dress him or have the funeral they wanted.
Ashton Funeral Service, parts of Dignity Funerals, in Brixton had been caring for Mr Pryce's body along with seven others which also started to decompose. The elderly man's body reportedly suffered from skin slip - a part of the decomposition process when the top layers of skin become disconnected from the body.
The fault meant funeral home staff were reportedly met with bodily fluids on the floor to clean up when they arrived for work on Monday, August 1. The company is now offering the family a free funeral service. And said it will waive all of their £8,500 costs.
Ashton Funeral Service, parts of Dignity Funerals, in Brixton were caring for Mr Pryce's body along with seven others which also started to decompose. The fault meant funeral home staff were reportedly met with bodily fluids on the floor to clean up when they arrived for work on Monday, August 1.
The company is now offering the family a free funeral service. And said it will waive all of their £8,500 costs.
Mr Pryce was 81 when he died on July 1 of natural causes. His grandaughter Zayed Martin, 22, from Brixton, lived with and cared for him, along with her mum, in his final years.
She told MyLondon: "We are all absolutely devastated and upset. We are such a close family and we didn't need this on top of dealing with the grief.
"We’ve been advised not to see grandad and not to have an open-casket funeral. We are only allowed to place clothes on top of him and slip photographs inside the coffin.
"It's horrible to think about your family members like this. And his dignity. We are so unhappy about this; it was meant to be our last goodbye. They’ve stripped us of that right. We trusted them and the trust is broken."
The family, of Jamaican heritage, say having an open casket is important in their culture. But the funeral home said they cannot see the body because a chemical powder has been put on him to stop further deterioration, which is harmful to breathe in.
Ashton Funeral Service took two days to contact the family to explain what had happened, Zayed alleges. Initially they apologised and offered to take £578 off the family's bill, given embalming can no longer take place.
But Zayed said this "wasn't good enough". She added: "It is not acceptable. They should have some standard regulations where the fridges are being checked. Some back up procedures."
Ashton Funeral Service staff told the family that the fridge was checked on the Friday eveningbut because no one works at the weekend, nobody noticed a fault caused the fridge to switch off. There were an estimated seven other bodies in the same fridge and therefore seven other families affected, Zayed added.
Dignity Funerals manages more than 650 funeral directors at different locations across England, 66 of which are in London. Since MyLondon contacted Dignity Funerals for comment, they have offered the family a free funeral service and will waive all costs - which were due to be £8,500.
A spokesperson for Dignity Funerals said: “We are wholeheartedly sorry for the distress and upset this has caused, and we have directly apologised to each of the seven families affected. Caring for deceased persons in a professional and respectful manner is at the core of everything we do.
"We accept that in this instance due to a fault with our equipment we have fallen far short of the standards we strive for, and that our clients rightly expect. We continue to provide each family with support to ensure the funerals can be held in a dignified and meaningful way, and we will provide full reimbursement for all related costs.
"Arrangements have been made to continue to care for the deceased at another local dignity mortuary that is operating to our usual high standards. We are now investigating internally the cause of the fault and will be ensuring robust measures are put in place to ensure this does not occur again.”
