Bereaved Parents Find Amputated Human Leg Instead Of Deceased Son's Body In Coffin

A distraught couple who lost their 11-day-old infant dealt with another blow Saturday after they discovered an amputated leg in place of their deceased son's body in the baby's coffin. The child, born after 34 weeks gestation, died from a congenital disorder at a hospital last Friday.

The incident happened at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) hospital in the Mexican city of Huajuapan de León, reported Mexico News Daily.

The report said the child's parents went to the funeral home with a hospital staff Saturday to collect the infant's body. They were handed over a coffin, which they believed contained the child's remains.

The parents then headed to their hometown of Tacache de Mina and weren't aware of the 'mix-up' until they arrived home. During the burial ceremony, they noticed blood dripping from the coffin. The family decided to reopen it, after which they discovered the human leg inside, the report said, citing a local newspaper El Universal.

They immediately returned to the hospital with the coffin containing the amputated leg, and were able to collect their son's body. However, the family filed an official complaint with the local prosecutor’s office against the hospital and morgue authorities.

Though an investigation into the issue revealed that a hospital employee was responsible for the mix-up, the hospital refused to accept the responsibility. They said the baby's father was at fault because he took the coffin containing the human leg without bothering to check its contents. It is unclear why a severed human leg was kept inside a coffin.

"The man had all the documentation concerning the [deceased] newborn. He just got the wrong coffin. Instead of verifying which one really corresponded to his baby, he took another one that wasn’t [the right one]. It was he who made the mistake, not hospital personnel," the hospital spokesperson told Mexico News Daily.

On why no one from the hospital realized the mix-up, the hospital said there were authorized personnel, but the father was negligent. Hospital sources added that the father had admitted that it was his mistake.

Last month, a newborn boy was falsely declared dead after doctors thought he was stillborn. The child, identified as Jesús Sebastián, was born prematurely at 23 weeks at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in Torreón, a city in the Mexican state of Coahuila. Doctors then said the boy was stillborn and shifted him to the hospital morgue. The infant was rescued from the morgue four hours later after the staff noticed movements. Medics tried to revive him, but the infant died later.