B.C. woman sues after father’s brain found years after his death, cremation

A B.C. woman says she needed up having her father cremated without his brain, after the vital organ was allegedly mishandled after his death.

A Victoria, B.C., woman is taking legal action after her father’s brain was found sitting in a hospital fridge over two years after he died.

Mandy Large is suing the B.C. Coroners Service and the Vancouver Island Health Authority for negligence and for breaching their duties of care.

Her father, Philip Peter Billy, was 55 when he died in Nanaimo on Feb. 27, 2022. His brain was removed for examination during an autopsy and was never put back, Large said.

“They were cleaning out a fridge at Royal Jubilee Hospital and they found my dad’s brain in a jar,” she told CTV News Vancouver Island.

In an email chain Large shared with CTV News, a coroner confirms her claim.

“When (Billy’s brain) was received by Royal Jubilee Hospital it was misplaced in a fridge and not returned to the body. It was found now while the fridge was being cleaned out,” coroner Emily Lefler wrote to Large on Oct. 1, 2024.

The coroner’s service and the health authority said they cannot comment while the matter is before the court.

In April 2022, the notice of civil claim says Billy’s body was moved from Nanaimo to Victoria, where Large said he was to be cremated. Billy’s brain remained at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, and Large said she doesn’t know why.

A month later, the coroner’s service said the brain and body had been reunited, according to the notice of claim.

“But it didn’t happen,” Large said, though she didn’t know that at the time, so she went ahead with cremating her father.

“My dad being cremated without his brain, it just meant that he was… in the spirit world without a brain,” said Large, who is First Nations.

Her email exchange with Lefler suggests a miscommunication led to the alleged mishandling of the brain.

“Royal Jubilee staff were the ones that misplaced the brain and told us it was with the body when it was not,” the coroner wrote.

Large describes her father as a gentle giant with a soft voice and a good soul, despite enduring residential school and having a hard life.

“I found some peace in my dad passing away – for him – because he no longer had to struggle,” she said.

“My dad didn’t get to die with dignity… He was wronged even after his passing by these systems that are put in place.”

She hopes the lawsuit ensures other families don’t suffer in the same way.

“What happened to my dad greatly affected me emotionally and mentally and it still affects me today,” she said.

His brain has been cremated and reunited with the rest of his remains, she said.