A family have spoken of their heartbreak after learning ashes they scattered did not belong to their relative in a devastating mix up.
Gran-of-six Eileen McClean, 54, died from a pulmonary embolism on November 23, 2020, and a service was held for her at Kirkcaldy Crematorium on December 3.
But relatives of the mother-of-four were notified by crematorium staff last week that they had been given the wrong remains.
Grieving daughter Mary Newlands also says they noticed the 'ashes' lingered on the ground where they were scattered for longer than expected - and now fear it was an emptied vacuum bag which was laid to rest.
Mary Newlands, 36, said: “I’m heartbroken. I feel numb.
"We’ve scattered someone where my mum should have been.
"I feel for the family of this mystery person that we’ve scattered.
“We have to relive all of this. She’s got six grandkids, and they’re going to have to go through it again.
"One of the younger ones helped to scatter the ashes.
"The other day she got confused and emotional – she started crying when we said we’d have to say goodbye again as she thought we’d already done it.
"There are still so many unanswered questions. She was only 54.
"She didn’t deserve to be left on the shelf for a year and a half.”
Mary claims she has been told no one is unaccounted for with regards to the mystery ashes, which she says prompts fears that she may have scattered 'the contents of a vacuum bag'.
She added: “We thought we’d scattered her ashes on December 11 at the crematorium, next to my gran and grandad.
"She always said she’d she’d want to go with them.
“The crematorium said no one is missing.
"Basically someone’s emptied their hoover and we’ve scattered it, either that or it’s been a pauper’s funeral and they haven’t done the paperwork properly.
"The ashes took forever to disappear, you could still see them in February.
"They wouldn’t go away. Now we know why.
"My gran and grandad didn’t want to accept the ashes because they didn’t know who it was."
The news came to light last week when Mary got a call from crematorium staff saying that the family had been given the wrong remains.
Liz Murphy, bereavement services manager at Kirkcaldy Crematorium, said: "We are extremely sorry this has happened, and we've apologised directly to the family for the distress this has caused.
"We have very rigorous control processes in place.
"We’ve carried out a thorough audit and we can account for all the ashes in our care.
"We have also asked for independent verification which has confirmed the outcome of our review.
"Our investigations involving all partners in the cremation process are continuing and we will keep the family informed of the results.”
Funeral Director Ian Johnston said: “I'm absolutely devastated for the family.
"It was 16 months they were under the illusion that they dispersed the ashes only to then find out that it wasn't their mother. It's just awful. I can't express in words what they're going through.
"We do pride ourselves on the care and compassion that we give to the famillies, and the aftercare.
"Clearly something has happened here and we're hopeful that the investigation will bring that to light."
