Australian’s missing heart in Bali autopsy sparks organ theft denial, consent questions
The Bali hospital handling the autopsy into Byron Haddow’s death has denied attempts to steal his heart after he was repatriated without it
Byron Haddow was found dead in a plunge pool at his rented villa in Bali on May 26. His body was returned to Queensland four weeks later after an autopsy, but a second examination revealed his heart was missing – sparking outrage among relatives and concern over how foreign deaths are handled in Indonesia.
Haddow’s mother, Chantal Haddow, told Australian media the family was “heartbroken”.
“They [the Australian authorities] just rung [sic] us to ask if we were aware that his heart had been retained over in Bali […] Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any more heartbroken, it was another kick in the guts. I feel like there was foul play. I think that something’s happened to him prior to being in the pool.”
On Wednesday, I Made Darmajaya, the director of medical nursing and support at Prof. Ngoerah Hospital in Bali where the autopsy took place, was forced to make a statement denying that there had been an attempt to steal Haddow’s heart and sell it.
“I emphasise, on behalf of Prof. Ngoerah Hospital, that the circulating rumours of organ theft are false,” Made told a news conference. “There was no interest from the hospital to withhold [the heart]. Actually, our interest was in the context of an examination in accordance with the law.”