I used to be a transportation manager and oversaw drivers who would drive older adults with developmental disabilities to and from their home and the day care facilities they would attend.
One afternoon, one of the drivers called me and was in a panic saying that she had called the paramedics because one of her passengers had passed away in the van on the way back home. She had pulled off to the side of the road while waiting for paramedics to get there with the rest of the people in a not so great area. Thankfully most of the gangs in the area knew us and wouldn’t bother our population, probably defend them if something happened, but I still wanted to get there and help out any way I could so they could get on with their day.
I got there and the van, one of those long 15 passenger vans, was parked on the corner and all of the people were standing on the curb with the driver and the police and paramedics were there.
We got another couple drivers to come take the rest of the people with them so they could go home, but this driver, this was her personal van. Like she owned it and contracts with us to use it, so she didn’t want to leave it unattended.
The police had confirmed that the woman had passed away and was still in the van. She was in the very backseat in the middle between two other passengers. One of the passengers had to literally crawl over her dead body to get out of the van.
So I told her to get into my truck and we’d just sit there and wait for the coroner.
We sat in my truck for hours and just stared at the back of that van, all the while only we knew there was a dead person sitting in there. She didn’t want to go anywhere to make sure no one stole her van so I just sat there with her and we talked for a while.
It was about 5 hours when a Honda Odyssey van pulled up and a bunch of guys in suits got out. We greeted them and they got inside and put the woman’s dead body into one of those bags you see on TV. I remember when they were pulling the bag out and I remember hearing it drop on the concrete. It’s such a weird sound to hear and like nothing you’ve ever heard or experienced.
People were now crowding on the streets as it was obvious what was going on now.
The driver just couldn’t take it and turned around and I held her while I faced the whole thing. They put her in the back of this van and drove off.
Last part was to take the van back to her house but obviously she didn’t want to drive it back so I let her drive my truck and I drove that van back to her house. The whole drive was just so creepy. The rear view mirror had a perfect position on that particular seat the whole ride and I just couldn’t get over the fact that someone literally just died there a few hours ago.
I made sure to give her a few days off and rearranged my schedule because that was enough for me and I wasn’t even the one driving when it happened, so I couldn’t imagine what she was going through. And not just for her but the safety of the others, it seemed best to have her take some time to recoup before returning.
I remember hearing it drop on the concrete. It’s such a weird sound to hear
Other than my parents and some pets, I’ve never interacted with a dead body. However, before I met my wife, she worked in mortuary sciences (I don’t know her title or anything, but she reconstructed and prepared cadavers in the back of a funeral home).
Based on the stories she’s told me (as well as her stating this directly), when a dead body is out of view of its former loved ones, it often gets very little respect, such as you described here. To be fair, some of that is by necessity (to keep the body presentable) but sometimes it’s due simply to the situation being mundane for the workers.
Also, it’s very surprising to me that it took five hours for the pickup. Both of my parents’ deaths were somewhat anticipated, but pickup was very prompt both times. That said, it was in a smallish town, so that might be related.
I used to be a transportation manager and oversaw drivers who would drive older adults with developmental disabilities to and from their home and the day care facilities they would attend.
One afternoon, one of the drivers called me and was in a panic saying that she had called the paramedics because one of her passengers had passed away in the van on the way back home. She had pulled off to the side of the road while waiting for paramedics to get there with the rest of the people in a not so great area. Thankfully most of the gangs in the area knew us and wouldn’t bother our population, probably defend them if something happened, but I still wanted to get there and help out any way I could so they could get on with their day.
I got there and the van, one of those long 15 passenger vans, was parked on the corner and all of the people were standing on the curb with the driver and the police and paramedics were there.
We got another couple drivers to come take the rest of the people with them so they could go home, but this driver, this was her personal van. Like she owned it and contracts with us to use it, so she didn’t want to leave it unattended.
The police had confirmed that the woman had passed away and was still in the van. She was in the very backseat in the middle between two other passengers. One of the passengers had to literally crawl over her dead body to get out of the van.
So I told her to get into my truck and we’d just sit there and wait for the coroner.
We sat in my truck for hours and just stared at the back of that van, all the while only we knew there was a dead person sitting in there. She didn’t want to go anywhere to make sure no one stole her van so I just sat there with her and we talked for a while.
It was about 5 hours when a Honda Odyssey van pulled up and a bunch of guys in suits got out. We greeted them and they got inside and put the woman’s dead body into one of those bags you see on TV. I remember when they were pulling the bag out and I remember hearing it drop on the concrete. It’s such a weird sound to hear and like nothing you’ve ever heard or experienced.
People were now crowding on the streets as it was obvious what was going on now.
The driver just couldn’t take it and turned around and I held her while I faced the whole thing. They put her in the back of this van and drove off.
Last part was to take the van back to her house but obviously she didn’t want to drive it back so I let her drive my truck and I drove that van back to her house. The whole drive was just so creepy. The rear view mirror had a perfect position on that particular seat the whole ride and I just couldn’t get over the fact that someone literally just died there a few hours ago.
I made sure to give her a few days off and rearranged my schedule because that was enough for me and I wasn’t even the one driving when it happened, so I couldn’t imagine what she was going through. And not just for her but the safety of the others, it seemed best to have her take some time to recoup before returning.
Just one of the creepiest experiences of my life.
Other than my parents and some pets, I’ve never interacted with a dead body. However, before I met my wife, she worked in mortuary sciences (I don’t know her title or anything, but she reconstructed and prepared cadavers in the back of a funeral home).
Based on the stories she’s told me (as well as her stating this directly), when a dead body is out of view of its former loved ones, it often gets very little respect, such as you described here. To be fair, some of that is by necessity (to keep the body presentable) but sometimes it’s due simply to the situation being mundane for the workers.
Also, it’s very surprising to me that it took five hours for the pickup. Both of my parents’ deaths were somewhat anticipated, but pickup was very prompt both times. That said, it was in a smallish town, so that might be related.