Jonathan Fowler, dying of cystic fibrosis, had one last wish expressed in his will – that after his death, his beloved body tattoos, which included a beer logo and a Playboy Bunny, be removed and preserved.
Unfortunately, when Jonathan succumbed to pneumonia in December, his 27-year-old body was cremated before the young Kiwi’s last wish could be carried out.
Jonathan’s mourning mother, Julie Fowler, didn’t find out about her son’s last wish until she chanced upon a copy of his will after Christmas.
The grieving mother, hailing from New Plymouth in New Zealand’s North Island, expressed her disgust and anger with the Public Trust – which happens to be the largest provider of estate administrative services and probate wills in the country- in the Dominion Post newspaper.
She complained that the Public trust skipped mentioning her son’s last request when she got in touch with them before his cremation.
Julie Fowler told the media how special these tattoos were for a young man who couldn’t do a lot of things other than this. She added that the wish was for her beloved son and nobody else.
She expressed a deep regret that she would be unable to fulfill this one request from her son.
She added that they have lost their only chance as he can’t even be exhumed.
Julie Fowler also expressed shock at the behavior of the person she contacted at Public Trust, who suggested making copies of the tattoos instead of removing them from the body, which he opined was gruesome.
Mrs. Fowler argued that having your loved one’s tattoos in your home is the same as having their ashes, which was not the point anyway.
She can’t help wishing that she had walked into his room earlier and come across the will.
In an email that the Public trust emailed to AAP, it admitted that this incident definitely counts as a serious shortfall on the part of the organization.
In a letter, the Public trust has apologized to Julie Fowler and arranged a meeting with her on Wednesday.
The statement mentioned that the Trust was investigating the untoward incident to find out the reasons behind its occurrence and also taking steps to make sure that the incident is never repeated in the future.