KEY POINTS:
As a former nurse aide in Sydney, Mere Ngakoti says she has a fair idea of the goings-on in hospitals.
"Part of my job description there was to take the bodies when they had passed away," said the 43-year-old mother of five.
"As a Maori I always said
a prayer before and after I dealt with them. It didn't matter what culture they were."
She told the Weekend Herald from her family home in Waiomio, near Kawakawa in the Far North, she was "well aware of the processes and paperwork" hospital staff faced.
It was this insight that enabled her to forgive Auckland District Health Board officials who have admitted a serious mistake in their procedures, requiring an investigation.
"I know what they go through, yeah, but they did a tremendous job in looking after our baby."
Ms Ngakoti's first grandchild, Lazariah Thompson Mar, died last month after two heart operations at Auckland's Starship hospital.
The four-day old infant was buried at the family urupa at Waiomio with his great-grandfather Te Rata Ngakoti, who had died days before.
But last weekend, the baby's parents, Peter Mar and Cairo Thompson, received a letter saying part of their baby's body was still at the hospital.
The news was a "complete shock" to Mr Mar, 17, who had signed hospital forms which he thought ensured the return of the complete body.
Lazariah's missing tissue was returned to the family this week and interred at the urupa after a ceremony with hospital staff.
And despite the whanau having to "relive the trauma" a month after the baby's passing, Ms Ngakoti said they bore no grudges.
"It was a horrible thing to go through but I'm quite grateful that they told us in the first place," she said.
"They might have got rid of it and we would have been none the wiser."
The Auckland District Health Board has since apologised for "the misunderstanding and miscommunication" and has started an investigation in which Ms Ngakoti and her family will participate.
Ms Ngakoti said that although Maori had their own beliefs about death and the tapu (sacredness) of their bodies, people of all cultures should have a clear idea of where their deceased loved ones' body parts were after a post-morten examination.
"No one should have to go through what we did - it's unacceptable.
