A hospital in the US did a blunder mistake, and it is accused of switching off the wrong man’s life support after getting agreement from the family of a man who turned out to still be alive and well.
The man was taken to Mercy Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, after he was found lying unconscious beneath a car, naked with facial injuries.
He died just after the family agreed to switch off the life support, but the real Mr. Bennett later showed up at a barbecue.
The horrified mistake emerged when the real Alfonso Bennett showed up to a barbecue, leaving authorities scrambling to work out the true identity of the man who had just died.
According to NBC Chicago, Rosie said that police used a mug shot to identify the body despite him having severe facial injuries.
Doctors informed Mr. Bennett’s family that they would need to take off the life support machine.
The family agreed and he passed away just three days later.
Now the relatives of, Elisha Brittman- and the family of Mr. Bennett decided to sue Mercy Hospital in Chicago, Illinois over the terrible mistake.
His family was arranging his funeral when Mr. Bennett reappeared, having been away.
After using fingerprint technology, it was confirmed that the body was actually that of Elisha Brittman.
When Mr. Brittman did not return home his niece, Mioshi Brittman, was worried and even went to Chicago Police Department’s Wentworth District to file a missing-person report.
In an interview reported by Chicago Sun-Times, Ms. Brittman said: “It wasn’t just I just searched for him one day. It was every day. If I get off from work – keep searching. Talking with someone after work – ‘did you call, did you see?'”
The families met at the attorney’s office to announce that they were filing the joint lawsuit. The suit claims that there were willful misconduct and negligence by the Chicago Police Department and Mercy Hospital.
A lawyer for the Bennett family, Cannon Lambert, said it was unacceptable for the “hospital and law enforcement to perceive people as invisible.”
State Senator Patricia Van Pelt said police should have used either fingerprinting or DNA to try to immediately establish the patient’s identity.
“To say that we currently have questions is an understatement,” Chicago Police chief communications officer, Anthony Guglielmi, tweeted.
“We have detectives looking into every aspect of this incident,” he added.