Girl, 4, in shock hospital find
A 4-YEAR-old girl’s horrific discovery of a “mummified” body in an equipment room at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Phoenix has sparked an official probe.
The body was wrapped in white plastic, with only the decomposing toes visible.
“At first I dismissed her claims,” said Marcus Arjoon Chetty, on whose shoulders the girl was perched as she peered inside the equipment room through a small window on Tuesday last week. “I explained that it was a room for storing things, but she was adamant she had seen a body and toenails, so I checked for myself.”
Chetty had given the child, her mother and her grandfather a lift to the hospital to visit a relative. The Phoenix businessman told
POST that when he opened the door to check, his heart began to race.
“There was a body lying on the bed. It was wrapped in plastic from the head to the ankles, like a mummy. The feet were partially decomposed. There were boxes and old equipment surrounding it.
“I left the child with her family and reported the incident to the nurse on duty. She said ‘That’s how it’s done here’. I was shocked,” said Chetty.
He called the police, but was unsure whether they arrived as he left soon after reporting the grisly discovery.
The next day he contacted the hospital’s board and claimed the woman he spoke to seemed uninterested.
“Dead bodies are supposed to be in a morgue, not in an equipment room,” Chetty said. “The Department of Health needs to do something about this hospital.”
The child’s grandfather, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was still talking about her find.
“The hospital needs to buck up. How can they leave a dead body lying around like that?”
Hospital board member Mervyn Reddy vowed to launch a full investigation. “The hospital has its challenges, but it is unacceptable for a dead body to be left lying around. We will make sure the person responsible is disciplined accordingly.”
He added that the hospital would provide counselling for the child if necessary.
Logan Chetty of the KwaZuluNatal Funeral Directors’ Association explained the standard procedure when someone dies in hospital.
“The necessary paperwork must be done and a porter takes the body to the hospital mortuary. Here the body is placed in a plastic body bag and the family are notified.”