'I begged to see my son' - Mum who was refused access to her son's body campaigns for change to mortuary rules

Rachel Baker’s son and Royal Navy Engineer, Joe Baker sadly died in a crash on November 27 last year while travelling to his base in Yeovilton, Somerset.

When police officers arrived at Rachel and her husband Adam’s house to deliver the news that their son had died, they immediately wanted to see his body. 

However, despite “desperate appeals and pleas” for access from Joe’s parents and their two liaison officers, they were refused access on the grounds that Musgrove Mortuary in Somerset was a closed mortuary.

Mrs Baker, who is from Hoptonheath on the Shropshire/Herefordshire border, is now campaigning to get the rules changed and has set up a petition aiming to ensure that all families have immediate access to the deceased at Musgrove.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust that manages the mortuary has said it was keen to speak to the family about their experience.

“I have never begged for anything in my life, but I begged and rang those phone numbers again and again, and spoke to the coroner's office several times a day,” said Mrs Baker.

“I begged to see my son. I wanted to know what injuries he had, how badly hurt he was. All the time I was told ‘we can’t give you any information, it’s protocol, we’re a closed mortuary’.

“I wasn’t made aware of anything. The days passed and there’s no end to that because you’re not given a time or a date, you have nothing to head towards.

“Every day you’re living the nightmare, and the more you live it, the more you imagine. So I was imagining Joe so defaced that that was why they wouldn’t let me see him. I was imagining horrific injuries.

“It was torture. I finally got to see him ten days later and his face was perfect. His face was beautiful and there was no reason to put us through that sheer torment.”

On December 7, the family were able to see Joe’s body.

In the family’s quest to have a change in the rules, under ‘Joe’s Law’ no family members would ever be told no to seeing the body of a deceased loved one - if they are OK physically and OK enough to be viewed.

The petition that has been set up by the family is aiming to reach 10,000 signatures so it can be heard in Parliament.

“We need all the support we can muster together so no family has to go through what we did,” Rachel added.

“I would never want anybody to suffer how I suffered and how my family suffered.

“I had to watch my family suffer. 

“Joe’s baby sister, Seren, was saying to me ‘how do you know it’s him, you haven’t seen him’.

“What do I say in those circumstances? I haven’t been in and seen him, I can’t say it is our Joe.

“The torment it causes is horrific.”

A spokesperson for the NHS trust said the trust wanted to extend its condolences to the family for their loss and added that they wanted the family to speak to their patient advice and liaison service.

Further information and the petition can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/change-for-joe-baker-ensuring-all-families-have-immediate-access-to-deceased-at-musgrove.