Overwhelmed by virus victims, a New York funeral home became a scene of ‘horrifying disrespect.’ - The New York Times

Sharon Escobar paid a Brooklyn funeral home to tend to the remains of her father, Elisha Magosha, after he died from complications of Covid-19 in April.

Two weeks later, she learned that his body had been disintegrating alongside more than a dozen others inside two U-Haul trucks parked in front of the Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home, a small building squeezed between a sex shop and a dollar store.

The discovery in early May, as the pandemic held a firm grip on New York, shocked and angered a traumatized city, and in November, the home’s director, Andrew Cleckley, had his license revoked by the state for improperly handling the remains of the deceased.

Odors seeping from the trucks prompted passers-by to complain to the authorities, ultimately leading to the discovery of what was happening.

Mr. Cleckley said he was overwhelmed by the deluge of bodies his home received and said that even though he was the principal leaseholder, five other funeral services operated from the building, and he could not be responsible for overseeing how all of them treated remains.

Still, a large part of his job involved embalming bodies for those other firms, raising questions about the extent of his role.

“Everything I did was out of compassion — helping the other funeral homes, embalming their bodies, picking up bodies for them,” he said.

What unfolded at the Cleckley home was perhaps the most extreme episode when the pandemic engulfed the city’s system for handling the dead — reflecting the tragedy, chaos and overall lack of resources in the face of the biggest public health crisis in a century.

“It was the craziest time I’ve ever been alive,” said John D’Arienzo, president of the Metropolitan Funeral Directors Association. “After Mr. Cleckley’s actions came to light, the medical examiner realized how overwhelmed funeral services were.”

Note: Changes to the Full-Text RSS free service

"Scene" - Google News
December 23, 2020 at 05:13PM
https://ift.tt/2KQu4PT

Overwhelmed by virus victims, a New York funeral home became a scene of ‘horrifying disrespect.’ - The New York Times
"Scene" - Google News
https://ift.tt/36mRPVq
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update