This is the disturbing moment a mother asked for help after a local undertaker in Brazil placed the body of her late son in a coffin filled with rubbish.
Andreia da Silva was waiting for the undertaker to load the coffin into a van to transport Vitor de Oliveira, 25, to Franco da Rocha Cemetery in São Paulo when she spotted him lying on wooden crates that had been placed over soil and filled with old objects newspaper were covered.
De Oliveira died of a heart attack in a hospital on January 5 after five other medical facilities refused immediate care because they did not have the necessary equipment to treat obese patients.
The grieving mother was also shocked by the height of the coffin, which she described as “grotesque, ugly, hideous” in an interview with Brazilian news agency G1.
Vitor de Oliveira died of a heart attack in a hospital in Brazil on January 5 after five other hospitals refused to offer medical treatment because they did not have the necessary equipment to care for overweight patients
Andreia da Silva leans on the coffin of her son Vitor de Oliveira. She found her son’s body lying over wooden boxes placed on earth and covered with sheets of newspaper
Trianon Funeral said it was not responsible for the type of coffin used for Vitor Oliveira. The company said its only responsibility was to transport the body to a clinic where the body was preserved and prepared for a wake before being taken to the cemetery
Da Silva claimed she paid Trianon Funeral nearly $1,400 for de Oliveira’s services.
The undertaker told G1 that it was only responsible for transporting de Oliveira’s remains to a clinic, where the body would be held and prepared for a wake before being taken to the cemetery. They said they were not involved in choosing the coffin.
In a statement, the company told BHAZ news portal that they “became aware of the facts after the body was transferred to another coffin without any of our employees being present.
De Oliveira, who weighed 440 pounds, fell ill on the morning of January 4 and was admitted to five hospitals – each refusing to provide medical care, according to Carlos Castro, the coordinator of São Paulo’s state hospital system.
He was admitted to the Peru ER at 8:55 am and was treated for respiratory failure. He was given medication and doctors tried to intubate him but couldn’t. A tracheotomy was performed, which allowed him to breathe easily.
He was discharged at 4:20 p.m. and placed on the city’s patient system to match him with a hospital that could provide the necessary care.
The public prosecutor’s office in the southern Brazilian state of São Paulo is investigating the state health department over the death of Vitor de Oliveira. The 25-year-old fell ill on January 4 and died the following day after trying to get to hospital for almost 32 hours. Six hospitals refused to treat him because they were overwhelmed or didn’t have beds for obese patients
Inside of the coffin filled with earth and wooden boxes before placing the body of Vitor de Oliveira
The nearest hospital was Taipas General Hospital. However, the medical facility could not register him because it was overcrowded – the hospital has a capacity of 22 patients and is treating 48.
The state patient registry reached out to five other hospitals and received a response from Vila Nova Cachoeirinha Hospital at 10am Thursday that there was room for De Oliveira. The staff let him in and didn’t do extra care because they didn’t have a bed that would support his weight.
He was discharged at around 12:30 p.m. and taken back to the Peru Accident and Emergency Unit and upon arrival taken to the Taipas General Hospital because the emergency center could not treat him properly.
He arrived at the hospital around 3 p.m. and medical staff called the fire department to move him from the ambulance to a stretcher. It took half an hour for firefighters to arrive before 10 people were able to move him safely.
A video on social media showed da Silva struggling not to lose aid and help de Oliveira survive.
Open coffin filled with earth, old newspapers and wooden boxes containing the body of Vitor de Oliveira
“My son needs help! He’s here in this ambulance,” she said. “He needs a supportive hospital. My son will die in the ambulance. I just want my son’s right to fight for his life. For the love of God. I just want to fight for my son’s life.”
De Oliveira was taken to the intensive care unit at 4.10pm. He underwent an electrocardiogram and went into cardiac arrest, dying at 4:40 p.m.
“He was neglected, my son too,” said da Silva. “My son was on a floor, I will never forget that. My son died on the floor, he had no right to die on a mattress.’
The São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the São Paulo Health Department over the death of de Oliveira.
The Public Security Secretariat is also investigating the funeral home incident.