Tearful mother of dead Aussie reveals shock way she learned her son’s body had been sent back from Bali WITHOUT his heart
A mother whose son mysteriously died in Bali fought back tears as she recalled the harrowing moment she learned his body had been flown back without his heart.
Chantal Haddow suffered every parent’s worst nightmare after learning that her son Byron Haddow, 23, was found dead in a plunge pool at a private villa on the Indonesian island in May.
His body was taken to the BIMC private hospital before it was transported to the Bali Funeral Home to prepare it for repatriation to Brisbane.
Suspecting foul play, the repatriation process was delayed when Mr Haddow’s parents requested a forensic autopsy and stated in emails that ‘we want his entire body sent home’.
The family’s grief was exacerbated when Mr Haddow’s body was returned to Australia weeks later with his heart missing.
The organ had been taken out without the family’s knowledge or consent, a decision they have since slammed as inhumane.
The Queensland Coroner’s Office made the horrifying discovery while conducting an autopsy on Mr Haddow’s body.
‘They just rang us to ask if we were aware that his heart was retained over in Bali,’ his mother Chantal told Nine News.
Sunshine Coast FIFO worker Byron Haddow died while holidaying in Bali
Byron’s mum Chantal (pictured with her son) was told by the Queensland coroner’s office that her son’s body was returned to Australia without his heart
‘Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any more heartbroken, it was another kick in the guts.’
Mr Haddow’s heart was eventually repatriated, which cost his parents an additional $700.
‘When it did come back, it was literally two days before his funeral, so there wasn’t an opportunity to put a hold on it,’ his mother added.
Forensic anthropologist and criminologist Dr Xanthé Mallett explained to Nine News that all organs are removed from the body during a forensic autopsy to be weighed and dissected and then, as ‘standard practice’, returned to the body.
Four months on, the Haddocks’ desperate quest for answers continues.
The initial autopsy in Bali revealed that Mr Haddock likely died from a lethal combination of alcohol intoxication and an antidepressant called Duloxetine.
But Ms Haddock fears her son’s death was more sinister.
Her 178cm-tall son supposedly drowned in a 150cm-deep pool.
Chantal Haddow described the news from the Coroner’s Office as ‘a kick in the guts’
Byron’s family believe that foul play was involved in his tragic death
‘When the police came here to deliver the news, he just said that he was found in the pool,’ Ms Haddock recalled.
‘Call it mother’s instinct, but I wasn’t having a bar of it.
‘I feel like there was foul play and that something has happened to him prior to him being in the pool.’
The results of the local autopsy report are still pending.
A separate Australian Federal Police investigation into Mr Haddow’s death is also ongoing.
‘It is a long and dragged-out process,’ Ms Haddow said.
She’s still struggling with the loss of her ‘generous, kind-hearted and hard-working’ son.
‘He was just so full of life,’ she added.
Indonesian forensic medicine specialist Dr Nola Margaret Gunawan told news.com.au that she was unable to conclude whether Mr Haddow’s death was an accident, suicide or homicide.
She received the autopsy request on May 30, but the operation was delayed by four days.
Byron was enjoying a well-earned break in Bali when tragedy struck. Pictured is the last photo he posted on social media two days before his death
This was due to Mr Haddow’s body needing to thaw out after being frozen at the funeral home.
Dr Gunawan received a second request from Bali’s provincial police for a forensic autopsy to be performed during those four days, and the autopsy was carried out in accordance with Indonesian law.
Forensic autopsies seek to identify the cause and manner of death for legal proceedings in suspicious, violent or unexplained cases.
During these kinds of autopsies, it is common for doctors to remove vital organs like the heart or brain for further study.
Dr Gunawan said pathologists are required to prioritise forensic autopsies.
She said that she did not see the Haddows’ email requesting their son’s ‘entire body’ be sent home before she conducted the autopsy.
Even if she had seen the email, she would still have removed his organs.
‘For a clinical autopsy, consent is required from the next of kin to retain organs. But for a forensic autopsy, according to the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code, consent is not required,’ Dr Gunawan explained.
‘We cannot do a partial autopsy.’
