A grieving widow says her life has been a “living hell” after her late husband’s casket was dropped during his funeral – exposing his body to hundreds of horrified mourners as the pallbearers fled the scene, according to a report.
Debbie Swales, 52, recounted the harrowing incident from November 2015, when her distraught children jumped into the grave to try and cover their dad’s body in front of the crowd at the West Road Cemetery in Newcastle.
“I just burst into tears. The lid smashed open and the kids jumped in [to his grave]. When lifting the coffin out it just fell to bits,” Debbie Swales, 52, told ChronicleLive about Gavin Swales, 55, who died of cancer.
“We paid extra for a solid oak coffin with strong gold handles. We found out after that it was a replica MDF coffin that just shattered when it was dropped,” she said.
“Imagine that happening to your loved one. It is not private, 400 to 500 people were able to see him laid there,” added the South West Denton woman, who decided to speak about the ordeal after almost four years of fighting for justice.
She said her devastated family arranged for a second burial for her husband – whom she described as a “gentle giant” — two days later with another funeral director.
Despite the botched first send-off, Swales said funeral director Clark Pearson has refused to accept blame and never apologized for the incident.
In August, the family reluctantly accepted a settlement of £136,500 – about $170,000 — with the funeral directors, but they have had to shell out $97,000 in legal bills and other fees.
“It means after all we’ve been through me and my children have ended up with just over £5,000 each. It’s an absolute insult,” Swales said. “All I’ve wanted is justice for my husband. It has not, and never will be, about the money. But my family has been through hell the past four years and Clark Pearson needed to realize what they have done to us.
A statement from Clark Pearson’s attorney said: “Clark Pearson deeply regrets this unfortunate incident and the distress that was caused to the family. Settlement of the claims was agreed at mediation, so it would be inappropriate for Clark Pearson to comment any further.”
In 2013, Swales’ husband was told he had a tumor in his right kidney and then it was discovered that he also had leukemia.
His brother Frankie donated his bone marrow, which helped improve Gavin’s condition before it deteriorated when he caught pneumonia.
Months after undergoing a second kidney transplant, he died, crushing the family.
“Gavin has left a massive gap in my life, my kids’ lives. My husband was known as the gentle giant all his life. He was always there to help people,” she said.
Gavin and Debbie SwalesFacebook“If I had one wish in the world it would be to bring him back. He idolized me, his children and grandchildren. He was a great man who has been robbed of his life, and I have been robbed of my time with him,” the grandmother of six added.
She said she has been haunted ever since she saw her husband’s body – and that it had a cut across the face as a result of the coffin breaking.
“It is not just the fact they dropped him. Of course it was an accident. But who would run away? You would front up to what happened and not leave the family to jump into the grave,” she said.
“We have been treated dreadfully ever since. I recall standing there and I cried and cried,” the widow continued.
“The kids can’t go to Gavin’s grave because they have flashbacks. People say that time heals, but I don’t feel any different now to what I did on the day of his funeral. I feel empty and I just can’t be happy. I am always going to be carrying this sadness around for the rest of my life.”
