A HEARTBROKEN widower has vowed to fight for justice after his wife’s body was taken by a funeral director without his permission.

Shirley Wilson, of Hawthorn Avenue, Colchester, died last Wednesday at the age of 81, after being admitted to Colchester Hospital on April 11.

Mrs Wilson, who battled COPD, had contracted coronavirus and was suffering from a chest infection, but after a couple of days she had started to perk up.

Later that week, however, her condition started to deteriorate and within a few days her husband Trevor, 63, was given the devastating news of her death.

The day after, Mr Wilson visited the East of England Co-op Funeral Directors, in Tamarisk Way, Greenstead, to inquire about arrangements for his late wife.

Gazette:

After some deliberation, he eventually decided to entrust Freedom Funerals, also in Colchester, with the responsibility of taking care of his partner of 43 years.

However, Mr Wilson was then told his wife’s body had already been retrieved by East of England Co-op Funeral Directors.

He said: “Without my permission they went to the hospital on Monday and took my bloody wife – I went ballistic, I went nuts and lost it at the woman at the Co-op.

“I have had three heart attacks and my heart was going like the clappers, so much so my granddaughter thought I was having another heart attack.

“The woman at the Co-op told me my wife was in the chapel of rest in Wimpole Road, so I told them they had an hour to get her back or I would pick her up in my van.

“They claimed the hospital had given them permission to collect her even though I never agreed anything - the guy from the bereavement suite was not impressed.”

Gazette:

According to Mr Wilson, who served in the Army for five years, Freedom Funerals have now located and recovered his wife and are taking care of the arrangements.

Nonetheless, the building site worker is now pushing for an internal investigation to be carried out in how his wife’s body was allowed to be taken.

He added: “I cannot eat or sleep at the moment and I don’t want to admit that my wife is gone.

“I cannot fault the paramedics or the nurses on the ward where my wife was because they really were fantastic.

“But we have been failed on so many levels and so I want someone’s job for this and I want justice for my wife because she would have taken no prisoners.”

Bosses from the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust have now admitted their role in allowing Shirley Wilson to be taken by the East of England Co-op Funeral Directors.

Anne Rutland, deputy chief nurse at the trust which runs Colchester Hospital, said: “We sincerely apologise for this error and offer our condolences to the family.

“We have personally spoken to Mr Wilson to apologise and the team is looking fully at the events so we can understand and learn from what has happened.”

Gazette:

A spokesman for the East of England Co-op added: “We are very sorry to hear of the distress caused to Mr Wilson at this difficult time.

“Collection is only made once the hospital has given us the authorisation to do so."