In Britain, a funeral agent has been suspended from working in mortuaries and public maternity hospitals after it was revealed that she kept the bodies of dead babies at home – among pets and children’s cartoons.
Amy Upton, 38, founder of bereavement support service Florrie’s Army, assured she was helping families in their most difficult moments.
However, it was learnt that the bodies of the babies were not stored in proper conditions and without the knowledge of the parents.
The situation highlighted the gaps in the regulation of the funeral industry in England, where there are no mandatory standards and controls.
Samaton claims she has received only two complaints in eight years of work.
Dead babies in the living room
Zord told the story Children’s cartoons were playing on the television.
‘I knew straight away it was my son,’ Zoe recalled. – And she said: Come in, we’re watching PJ Masks.
The room was a mess: there was a cat rag in the corner, a dog barking somewhere in the house, and Zoe saw another dead baby on the sofa.
I immediately called my mum and, crying, screamed: It’s not right! It’s filthy, he can’t stay here!
Photo by Zoe Ward
Zoe’s mum eventually contacted another funeral agent and Blue’s body was taken away from Upton House.
I didn’t want him to stay there for a minute. It was awful. I felt broken and humiliated,” says Zoe Ward.
‘It was like a horrible dream
A couple, Sharon and Paul, faced a similar situation (names changed). They lost their daughter earlier this year. The baby girl was stillborn at St Pancake’s Hospital in St Mary’s. A pancake cot is a special device for temporarily storing the bodies of babies at home.
She even rented it out to other families. But a BBC investigation reveals that the bodies under her care were not always in such a cot.
After finding out the truth, Sharon and Paul didn’t hesitate to rush to pick up their daughter’s body to give it to another funeral parlour.
“It was crazy. If I told that story to anyone – they would have thought it was the plot of a horror film,” says Sharon.
How Florrie’s Army came about and worked
Amy Upton revealed on Facebook that she founded Florrie Army after a personal tragedy: her daughter was stillborn in 2017.
She announced that she wanted to help other families who had lost children and set up the support charity.
Upton posted condolences on her page, in sterile rooms at temperatures between +4°C and +7°C.
Membership of professional organisations is voluntary and Amy Upton is not a member of any of them.
Who will protect the victims and their families?
Leeds Medical Centre said it had withdrawn Amy Upton’s access to mortuaries and maternity wards in the spring:
‘When we became aware of the issues we stepped up security measures at the mortuary. From 2021 there is special monitoring of her visits,’ the hospital said.
All complaints have been passed on to the police, security services, regulators and forensic experts.
No information about irregularities or criminal proceedings has been confirmed at this time, but police officials said the situation is being discussed.
” We realise that the complaints have only added to the suffering of the families at a very difficult time for them. We offer them our condolences, ” they said.Summarising the BBC investigation, a government spokesman said:
“Our thoughts are with the families affected by this terrible situation. They rightly expected their children to be buried with respect and dignity. We are committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure high standards in the funeral service and are now considering all possible options to improve the quality of the service.”