A Brooklyn family whose baby was stillborn has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the city after learning they buried the wrong body in their native Poland because of a mix-up at the medical examiner's office.
"I'm hurt to the point where I can't move forward," said Justyna Sliwa, who was pregnant for five months before her baby was stillborn in May. "I want my baby to put to peace."
Sliwa and her husband, Rafal, held a memorial service in Brooklyn on June 16. The funeral home sent the remains to the couple's hometown of Lomza, Poland, where a Roman Catholic funeral was held June 19.
They learned weeks later of the mistake. Now, they said they have filed a $5 million claim against the city for mixing up the baby they named "Angel."
Information on the other family was not made public. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, Ellen Borakove, said the babies had "strikingly similar names.''
The office is investigating how the mix-up occurred.
Borakove called it a "tragic, unfortunate error we have to make right.''
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