A family held a funeral for a stranger while their grandfather was still alive in hospital, report says

Sophia Ankel
Updated ·2 min read
funeral flowers
Flowers are seen on the grave of Ghulam Merzazada at the National Memorial park cemetery in Fairfax, Virginia on May 14, 2020. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

  • A family in Russia buried a stranger after a hospital mixed up two patients, The Telegraph reported.

  • The family's grandfather, who had suffered from a stroke, was actually still alive in hospital.

  • Relatives described the incident as a "story about human stupidity and medical negligence."

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A family in Russia held a funeral for a stranger while their grandfather was still alive in hospital after a nurse mixed up two patients on the same ward, according to The Telegraph.

Grigory Vasilyev, 79, was admitted to a hospital near Moscow after he suffered a stroke in mid-May. Two days later, his family was informed he had passed away.

When Vasilyev's daughter reportedly saw the body before burial, she told the morgue staff the man did not look like her father. However, the staff told her that he might look different because "people change a lot" after suffering from a stroke, The Telegraph reported.

Read more: Russia tried to slow down Twitter and accidentally broke the internet in the country. Here's what happened.

The dead stranger was given a funeral and buried in the family grave, but several days later relatives were informed that there had been a "mistake" and that their grandfather was in fact still alive in hospital.

According to The Telegraph, Vasilyev had been sharing a ward with another man who had also suffered a stroke and was of the same age.

A nurse had reportedly swapped over their beds but forgot to change the ID tags and only realized her mistake after the relatives of the deceased man showed up at the hospital and pointed out that Vasilyev was not a member of their family.

Vasilyev's grandaughter, Varava Korchashkina told The Telegraph the incident was a "story about human stupidity, medical negligence, incompetence and the utter collapse of the healthcare system."

The hospital is not able to continue treating Vasilyev because his identity documents are no longer valid as his death certificate has already been issued.

Investigators have since launched a criminal case into negligence against hospital staff.

Read the original article on Insider