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A grieving Waikato family who thought they had farewelled their mother at her recent funeral had no idea the body in the casket was that of a man they did not know.
But the Hamilton undertaker at the centre of the alleged mix-up says Waikato Hospital's lax procedures are partly to blame.
Waikato Hospital staff allege Riverside Funeral Service director Roy Waide mistakenly took a man's body instead of the elderly woman's from its mortuary about two weeks ago.
The mistake - which resulted in the man's body being cremated - devastated at least one Waikato family who say they learned of the incident after they thought they had said goodbye to their mother.
"And we understand what the family of the man cremated instead of my mother must have gone through too," said the woman's son.
Mr Waide, who runs Riverside Funeral Services, was evasive when asked yesterday to confirm whether he had made the mistake or if he had clearly identified the body before removing it.
But he admitted a "series of events that went on", which "probably would never happen again normally".
"Obviously something's happened - it seems to be getting down to how it happened," said Mr Waide.
"All I really know about the whole thing is that they are going to have to change their procedures because they're so lax and faulty."
He said news the mistake was his alone was "completely at odds" with the discussion he had had with the Waikato District Health Board.
He said there was a person working at the mortuary at the time, and he also contacted the families concerned once he realised the mistake.
But Waikato DHB spokeswoman Mary Anne Gill said a "cursory look" would have revealed the error.
"He took a man, not a woman."
Ms Gill said an investigation into the matter started on the day the incident happened.
She conceded there were parts of the hospital's procedures that were "not robust" but said Mr Waide signed a mortuary registration card on which he accepted responsibility for having checked the identity and acceptable condition of the body before removing it.
And the elderly woman's family had requested their mother was clothed before cremation.
Waikato/Bay of Plenty Funeral Directors Association chairwoman, Maureen Horton, would not comment on the incident as she had yet to speak to Mr Waide. But she said an investigation was likely.
