A deceased cruise passenger's body ended up decaying after it was allegedly "left in the drinks cooler for days."
Robert L. Jones, a 79-year-old Floridian was travelling on Celebrity Equinox ship, accompanied by his wife Marylin, when he passed away from heart complications last August, The Mirror reported.
The cruise line, who must have a working morgue, offered Mrs Jones, 78, the possibility of removing his body from the ship when it arrived at their next stop in Puerto Rico. Alternatively, it could be placed in the ship’s morgue until it made it back to the US, just six days later.
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She alleged she was "encouraged" to store her husband's remains on the cruise until they got back to Fort Lauderdale, as documented in her lawsuit.
Mrs Jones said they could keep his body in the morgue until they returned instead of her having to fly back.
However, before docking in the US, Mr Jones' body was brought from the morgue to a drinks cooler on a different floor, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges: "The cooler in which Mr. Jones’ body was found by the funeral employee had drinks placed outside of the cooler, and was not at a temperature which was sufficient nor proper for storing a dead body to prevent decomposition."
A funeral home and The Broward County deputy sheriff retrieved the body prior to Mr Jones' funeral.
However, when they arrived, they discovered that Mr Jones' body was found with an intubation tube still in his throat.
They found that his remains began decomposing inside a body bag found in the drink cooler that was not at the required temperature temperature, as per the complaint.
His family believe, if correctly stored, it could have kept his remains intact for a period of a few months.
The heartbroken family slammed the company for the way they conducted themselves surrounding Mr Jones' death.
The lawsuit said: "The company's actions and inactions with regard to Mr. Jones’s body were extremely indifferent to his passing, his dignity, and his family, friends, and community’s loss, and showed an entire want of care for the safety of his remains.
"As a passenger on its ship, the defendant owed Robert Jones a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances."
They were unable to have an open-casket funeral. The complaint detailed that it's a “practice which was a part of his family’s culture.”
Mrs Jones, her daughters, and her grandchildren have a lawsuit against the company, looking for $1 million.
Celebrity Cruises has been approached for comment by The Mirror UK.
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