A pair of parents from Sydney, Australia were left devastated after learning that their daughter was accidentally cremated at the hospital. Stella Pirko and Anthony Meyers were expecting to get an autopsy report on what happened to their baby Krystal Rose, who was stillborn. Because of what happened, however, they now have more questions than answers.
Pirko went for an emergency C-section at the Liverpool Hospital at 28 weeks. She and her partner, the baby's dad Anthony Meyers, also asked for an autopsy and genetic testing for Krystal Rose to find out what caused her death. "What is the chance if we fall pregnant again, is this going to happen to us again?" Pirko wondered, according to 9News.
Five months into her pregnancy, Pirko was advised by her doctor regarding termination. An ultrasound testing showed Krystal Rose had bladder problems and her chance of surviving was at zero percent.
After Pirko's procedure, the couple didn't hear from the hospital for days as they waited for the autopsy's result. Instead, a call from the Feto-Maternal Unit consultant confirmed the worse: their baby was cremated without an autopsy.
Worse, the doctor who signed off on the cremation was the same person who was supposed to handle the couple's autopsy request. "We trusted them to do their jobs - to find out what happened to our baby," Pirko said, per News Corp Australia. "We cannot fathom how this happened."
According to New York Daily News, the paperwork for the autopsy request went missing. The hospital was also understaffed and was without a full-time mortician at the time this happened in 2015, hence no autopsy was performed.
Liverpool Hospital general manager Robynne Cooke has apologized to the devastated parents and said that they have since improved their system and services after this isolated incident. Meyers said the apology did not provide the answers they needed.
Pirko, on the other hand, has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and has fears about getting pregnant again. "It has impacted our lives, in a dramatic and horrific way," Pirko said.
