VIRGINIA WAS horrified when she heard her son was dead . . . but the worst was yet to come. Officials said Sthembile died before he got to hospital and wouldn’t take responsibility for his body.
THEY WRAPPED STHEMBILE IN A SILVER BLANKET AND SENT THE BODY HOME IN AN AMBULANCE!“Doctors and nurses told us there was no need for them to take the body to the government mortuary,” said Virginia Mdingi (57), the mother of the dead man.
“The ambulance which took us to the hospital drove us straight back home and dumped the body at the house.”
Sthembile Mdingi (31) from Etwatwa, near Daveyton in Ekurhuleni, was taken to the Far East Hospital yesterday morning. He had struggled with a runny tummy all night.
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“Doctors were asking him questions and he was talking to them. We were sure we would see him back at home soon, happy and healthy.”
But then, only an hour later, the family got the terrible news that Sthembile had died. But the worst was yet to come.
“The people at the hospital told us Sthembile had died before he went into hospital and that is why the body was not their problem. They said they would send his body home and we must make a plan from there,” she said.
“We were shocked. We couldn’t believe it. I have never heard such a thing in my life.
“The ambulance which took them to the hospital drove them home. They dumped the body at the house and left.”
She said they went to the government hospital because none of them are working and they don’t have money to take the body to the private mortuary.
Sthembile’s sister Nonzuzo Mdingi (38) said they accepted his death.
“But how could they make us bring the body home?” she asked.
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| VIRGINIA WAS horrified when she heard her son was dead . . . but the worst was yet to come. |
“When neighbours and children saw the corpse they were very disturbed. They questioned the hospital’s action,” she said.
Nonzuzo said her brother was a good person who loved his family. “He was always at home, always willing to help his family with anything they asked of him. Life will never be the same without him,” she said.
A neighbour who saw the dead body in the ambulance said what the family to went through was sad.
“I have never heard of anything like this. Whoever is responsible for this must account for what they did.”
The Gauteng Department of Health spokesman Prince Hamnca sent a comment but immediately withdrew it.
