Woman's family wrongly told she was dead in hospital identity error

A hospital identity mix-up led to a 54-year-old woman being wrongly declared dead, causing immense distress to her family before the error was rectified.

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I just felt like time stood still. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Michelle Buckley vividly recalled the moment her former partner received a message from her brother's girlfriend stating, "I'm really sorry to hear that Michelle's passed away." Buckley described the shock, saying, "I just felt like time stood still. I couldn't believe what I was hearing." Minutes later, her phone rang with calls from her family, who were stunned to hear her voice. "I could hear them crying … My poor older aunty and my cousins, everybody had been notified," she said.

Queensland Police, acting on information from Victoria Police, had informed Buckley's brother of her supposed death. The news spread rapidly, leaving her family shaken and traumatized, especially given the recent loss of her parents. Buckley expressed feelings of shame and guilt, stating, "in a weird way, that my family went through this." Her aunt reportedly stayed with cousins for a week due to the distress.

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I could hear them crying … My poor older aunty and my cousins, everybody had been notified.

Buckley contacted Victoria Police the same night to confirm she was alive and to understand the cause of the mistake. She learned that the body of a woman found in Melbourne's west had been identified using patient documents from Werribee Mercy Hospital belonging to her. The hospital is now investigating the incident.

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I feel ashamed and guilty, in a weird way, that my family went through this.

Further complicating matters, Buckley discovered upon checking her online medical records that the deceased woman's medical history had been merged with her own. This included various hospital appointments and tests belonging to the other woman, some of which overlapped with tests Buckley herself had undergone. Buckley, who lives in Werribee but has never received treatment at Werribee Mercy Hospital, expressed concern about the accuracy of her own test results and considered herself fortunate not to have sought treatment during the period her records were combined.

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I thought: 'Oh my God, I've had so many tests and scans, and some of them the same as this other person'. 'Have I been given the right results?'