Horror after heartache

Carole Raeburn from Bexhill had one of the most awful experiences possible for any mother after the death of her son, Wayne, in America.

When she was unpacking bags of his belongings, she put her hand into one of them and found it contained his organs.

It was bad enough having to cope with his unexpected death abroad. It was utterly unacceptable she should be given his organs by mistake.

Carole and her husband have been given £50,000 compensation by the Conquest Hospital in Hastings and a local firm of undertakers.

It's debatable whether any financial payment is appropriate in a case of this nature. Nothing can compensate Mrs Raeburn for the severe shock she suffered which affects her to this day.

What the hospital and undertaker must ensure is that a blunder of this kind is never allowed to happen again.

Parking lot

The argument should be over on whether a residents' parking scheme is needed around the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

It's been approved in principle more than once and will come into operation next year.

What's important is that the details are right and the borough council has made an important change following a meeting with local residents and traders.

Permits will now be available for every resident rather than just one a household because that's what most people want.

You'll never be able to please everyone with a scheme of this nature. But it's important to get it as flexible and reasonable as possible even if this takes a lot of time and trouble.

Spotlight

Hove on the Sussex coast should be one of the sunniest spots in the country but it's not according to official weather reports.

The town lags well behind other resorts in sunshine hours, especially at this time of year, because the morning sun at the weather station is blocked by the King Alfred Leisure Centre.

It's time councillors moved the sunshine recorder to a more open spot so Hove can resume its accustomed role of putting the rest of Britain in the shade.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.