The autopsy report arrived this week, and I am very upset because it is literally filled with inconsistencies. I don't understand! I have a call in to the coroner, but so far I have discovered the following errors:
1. Weight - listed him about 20-30 pounds lighter than he is.
2. Height - listed him about 8 inches shorter than he is.
3. Hair color - listed as "red". Yes, his beard was red, but his head hair was blonde.
4. Eye color - listed as green. They are blue.
5. Remarkable identifiers - listed him as having no surgical scars; he had three:
- One on his hand (2014 debridement of a wound, goes from cuticle up to mid-hand)
- One on his abdomen (2008 appendix)
- One on his chest from under the left nipple all the way around to his scapula (2012 thoracotomy...not a small scar).
6. Tattoos - does not mention the one on his left temple that was used to identify his body.
7. Exit wound - sorry to be graphic, but I was told by both the detectives and the funeral home that he had a large exit wound on his head. Yet, the autopsy report says "no exit". When I saw my son, I know he had a large suture line across the back of his head. That may have been from the actual autopsy, but I was told he had an exit wound, which is why they needed to wait to see if he was "viewable" for me.
8. DOB - listed correctly on some pages; incorrectly on others. A difference of 4 months.
9. Nose - "normal", his nose was severely broken and distorted with the impact of the injury, and had a large abrasion on it that occurred during his death.
I am confused
I am angry
I am upset
Is this even the right person? I know who I saw on Wednesday, July 15, 2015 WAS my son. I have no doubts about that; none at all. But this report is not about my son. It is about another person who died in the same or similar manner. Either that, or the Office of Medical Investigations is extremely sloppy with their documentation. These are not insignificant discrepancies. These are NOT just words on a piece of paper; it was supposed to be a concise and accurate account of the manner of my son's death, a description of his fatal injury, and a final characterization of his physicality on this Earth.
My hope, by reading this report, was to be able to mentally gather up all of the details of his death, wrap them up in a neat package, put a bow on them, and emotionally set it aside for good. My goal was to be able to put this part of the event behind me, so I could start to heal and move forward with my grief. Not going to happen this week!
I don't have a picture to go with my emotions this week.
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