CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — After three severed heads were left at his desk at a Chicago organ donation organization, a worker is going public with allegations of poor handling and mismanagement of remains.
Dale Wheatley served as transportation coordinator for the nonprofit Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois (AGA), which facilitates donations of human bodies to medical schools for scientific research.
Wheatley and his attorney held a press conference on Tuesday claiming that bodies are being mishandled before and after they are sent to hospitals and schools.
According to WFLD, some of the bodies have been returned to the AGA because of their condition, saying “They’re sending donors back because of mold and rot, bugs. It’s deplorable.”
“There’s been instances where I’ve pulled donors from our storing room out of the racks, and rats have chewed through the bottom of the bag, through the feet,” he added.
AGA works with at least 8 medical schools in the state, including the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford.
According to its website, the nonprofit upholds the “highest standards of responsiveness, respect, privacy, and security” and shows “respect for our donors by treating them with the utmost care, reverently performed.”
Wheatley alleges otherwise, saying the day after he approached his supervisors with concerns, three dismembered heads were left on his desk.
“My boss walked by, I asked him why the heads were at my desk. He said they need to get back with their bodies so we can send them to cremation. I said, I understand that, ‘Why are they at my desk?’ and he said, ‘I don’t know Dale, there’s a lot of strange things happening,'” Wheatley said.
Wheatley said he filed a police report following the incident.