Wife asks for husband's body to be exhumed after realising he's been buried with the wrong false teeth
- Bedside mix up in the intensive care unit
- 'I knew he wouldn't rest in peace,' says wife
Last updated at 3:17 PM on 24th June 2011
A wife demanded that her husband's body be dug up after she discovered he had been buried with the wrong set of false teeth.
Kenneth Ray Manis, 76, died at Parkridge Medical Centre in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
After his funeral, his widow Phyllis Manis noticed another patient's wallet and keys mixed up with her husband's belongings.
Resting place: Kenneth Ray Manis, 76, was exhumed from Chattanooga National Cemetery, Tennessee after his wife discovered he had been buried with the wrong false teeth
She also found her husband's false teeth that were supposed to be in the grave with him.
Mrs Manis said her husband, who was an Army veteran of the Korean War, would not have wanted to be buried with something that didn't belong to him.
She said: 'I knew he wouldn't rest in peace with this happening.
'My husband is laying in his grave with this other man's teeth and I just couldn't let it be that way, I knew my husband wouldn't want it that way.'
Mix up: Park Ridge Medical Centre apologised for the mistake and paid for Mr Manis to be exhumed
Mr Manis had been in the intensive care unit at Park Ridge Medical Centre and was later transferred to a private room before he died on June 12.
Around that time, an 83-year-old gentleman, who Mr Manis didn't know, came out of surgery and was put in the bed next to him in the ICU.
When she worked out the mix up, Mrs Manis called the hospital and a court order to exhume her husband's body was prepared.
She said: 'I don't know about the other gentleman, he doesn't want the teeth back, but I know my husband is going to be resting a lot easier and so is our family.'
The hospital apologised to both families for the mistake.
A court order drafted by Hamilton County Chancellor Frank Brown said Park Ridge 'shall bear the costs of such interment and reburial', along with attorney fees up to $1,250.
Grin and bear it: The wrong set of dentures were removed from the coffin after a hospital mix-up
A spokesman for the hospital said: 'We’re also paying for new dentures. We hope that this will bring peace and closure to the Manis family.'
Chattanooga Cemetery foreman Bill Hartley declined to give details of the exhumation.
Mr Hartley said: 'We’re trying to honour the family and the veteran. We can’t disclose any information or anything.'
Hospital officials said they would not release the name of the man who lost his dentures.
Mrs Manis described her husband as a proud man who never wanted anything that belonged to someone else.
Mr Manis served in the Army and fought in the Korean War. Five of his eight brothers are also buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2007621/Wife-asks-husbands-body-exhumed-realising-hes-buried-wrong-false-teeth.html#ixzz1QI3Fhziw
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