Dale Wheatley, who makes deliveries for the Illinois Anatomical Gift Association, came into work two weeks ago to find burning sage and three severed heads lying in a plastic container next to his desk.
Wheatley, who has worked for AGA for nearly five years, said he had never seen anything like the horror movie-like scene he stumbled upon that Wednesday morning in late May.
Wheatley said the heads of AGA donors were placed next to her desk after she informed her supervisors of her concerns about the mishandling and poor conditions of the donated bodies. But AGA executive vice president William O’Connor denied any allegations of abuse, saying manipulation of body parts is in Wheatley’s job description.
Wheatley said she filed a police report after the bosses appeared on her desk and is now filing complaints with local and state authorities.
Families of the deceased donate bodies to the nonprofit for use in training medical students at eight universities across the state, and mishandling renders the bodies unfit for use , Wheatley said at a news conference with an attorney Tuesday afternoon. .
“The place is deplorable. It’s in bad shape,” he said. “If you’re there for more than five minutes, if you start walking, you start to stay on the ground.”
AGA writes on its website that it aims to “help donors and their families make their donations with confidence that AGA will uphold the highest standards of responsiveness, respect, privacy and security.”
O’Connor said it is Wheatley’s responsibility to handle the bodies. The organization, formerly known as the Demonstrator’s Society, has been in operation for more than a century.
Wheatley manages the “rack room” or the room where the bodies are kept at AGA. Drive to medical institutions, loading and unloading body parts from the rack system into the AGA van. A QR system is used to identify body parts, which are embalmed, distributed for study purposes, and then cremated and returned to families.
The director of the anatomy lab at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Casey Tilden, sent an email the day before the heads showed up at Wheatley’s office, complaining about the conditions of the donors going receive. “Donors,” or those who have donated their bodies for medical use, were covered in flies or twisted in such a way that they could not be used, Tilden wrote in the email, which was provided to the Tribune.
“There are a handful of donors who were recently delivered with feet and hands showing signs of decay,” Tilden said in the message to AGA.
According to Wheatley, other universities have also emailed complaints.
Wheatley felt the bosses were retaliating in response to her concerns, she said.
David Fish, an employment attorney and partner at Fish Potter Bolaños PC, said he filed complaints on Wheatley’s behalf with the Cook County medical examiner’s office, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Department of Financial Regulation and Illinois professional as part of an effort to clean up. conditions at AGM. Copies of those complaints were provided to the Tribune.
In the complaints, Fish called for an investigation into the embalming techniques used at AGA.
“Mr. Wheatley believes AGA should have and use a scale to weigh donor bodies to determine the amount of embalming fluid needed to ensure they are not subject to premature putrefaction and short usefulness,” he wrote.
Fish said he doesn’t want to file a lawsuit, but hopes AGA will take Wheatley’s complaints seriously.
“I’ve never seen a situation where heads are left on someone’s desk. This is unspeakable,” he said. “These are people’s relatives. They are no joke… They gave their bodies to give to science.”
Wheatley looked at the cameras, trembling, as he explained his working conditions. He works up to 12 hours a day, he said.
“I’m beat up,” Wheatley said. “This job has weighed heavily on me over the years.”
He has three children, ages 11, 6 and 1, and said he is concerned about their job security after sending comments to O’Connor. His family works in funeral homes and he said he got involved in the industry three years before starting at AGA.
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Wheatley confirmed that he had been out of work since May 30. He is still an employee and is taking time off, he said at the press conference.
O’Connor said AGA sometimes receives bodies that are “twisted” or “emaciated.”
“We accept all donors,” he said. “And we commit to the donor that their bodies will be studied.”
The AGA issues must be addressed before Wheatley feels well enough to return to work, he said. Wheatley said that since taking time off, her wrists and back feel better. The only thing that hasn’t improved is her anxiety, she said.
“That’s all I can think about. I can’t even sleep. All I can think about is going over and over in my head. I can’t believe this is happening,” Wheatley said.
Without action, people will rot, Wheatley said.
nsalzman@chicagotribune.com
