A family had to sit with the tragic loss of their child, then had to face something even more unthinkable… driving their baby’s body home themselves after a hospital allegedly refused to help. That’s the reality Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev are living, and now they’re taking Salem Health in Oregon to court over it, seeking $10 million in damages.
Their son, Michael, was born with Down syndrome and had already fought hard just to get to this point in his short life. He spent his first six months in and out of Seattle Children’s Hospital before his parents finally got to take him home. In September 2024, the family was at a Christian retreat in Salem, Oregon when they noticed his breathing turn shallow and rapid. They rushed him to Salem Health, and he passed away early the next morning.
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That’s when things allegedly took a turn nobody could have prepared for. According to the lawsuit, hospital staff discouraged the family from calling a funeral home, claimed they didn’t even have paper to print out the required transport forms, and never offered temporary morgue storage for Michael’s body. Instead, staff reportedly told the parents that professional transport would be “too expensive,” and suggested they simply lay their son flat in the back seat of their own car for the four-hour drive home to Seattle, with only a handwritten note on a prescription pad to document his death.
The lawsuit describes a father completely shattered, trying to survive a drive that no parent should ever have to make. According to the complaint, Aleksandr was in a state of shock and grief the whole way, terrified of being pulled over by police, getting into an accident, or watching his son’s body deteriorate right there in the car.
When he finally arrived at a funeral home in Seattle, he had to clean bodily fluids that had leaked onto the seat during the trip.
A grieving father, still in shock, forced into that. It’s hard to even process.
The Yeremeyevs are seeking $10 million for severe emotional distress and psychological trauma, and their legal team says they plan to amend the complaint to pursue punitive damages as well.
Salem Health, in response, says it acted according to the family’s wishes, hospital policy, and Oregon state law, in consultation with local authorities including the medical examiner. The hospital expressed condolences for Michael’s death but declined to discuss specifics due to the ongoing litigation.
Still, no policy explanation makes this easier to swallow. A family already carrying the heaviest grief imaginable deserved compassion, not confusion and a handwritten note. This case is still making its way through the courts, and we’ll be watching closely. Prayers up for the Yeremeyev family.