A heartbroken family in Laval, Quebec, is searching for answers after their father’s remains never returned home from Cuba. — and a heartbreaking mistake brought another man’s body to Canada.
The Jarjour brothers were on a family vacation in the south last month when their father, Faraj Allah Jarjour, 68, died suddenly. He suffered a heart attack while swimming in the ocean on March 22.
Miriam Jarjour was in the water with her father and yelled for her brother to help her. She was administered CPR after her father was pulled from the water, but there was no doctor on scene.
The family had to wait almost an hour before a doctor arrived and confirmed his death. The brothers said it took emergency services hours to remove their father’s body from the beach.
“We are sad because my father died,” said Karam Jarjour. “But we are sadder because my father is and we don’t know where.”
They quickly had to make arrangements to bring their father home, which involved a trip to the Canadian consulate in Varadero. Miriam Jarjour said they were told they couldn’t take him on the family’s flight out, so they made the painful trip back to Quebec without him.
Miriam Jarjour says she followed instructions given by the consulate and paid $10,000 to repatriate her father’s body. She then spent another $15,000 on costs for an eventual funeral.
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“So far I’ve paid $25,000 for nothing,” Miriam Jarjour said.
The Jarjour brothers with their father Faraj Allah Jarjour.
Courtesy of Miriam and Karam Jarjour
The funeral home picked up the casket at the Montreal airport when it finally arrived late last week. But the brothers were shocked when they were told that the remains inside did not match their father’s description.
Karam Jarjour says the funeral home showed him a photo of the deceased — and it clearly wasn’t his dad.
“I’m very angry,” Karam Jarjour said.
The man was covered in tattoos, had a full head of hair, and appeared to be at least 20 years younger than his father. The Jarjour family said they learned that the Russian citizen inside the coffin had been returned to his own country.
The family has not been able to determine where their father’s remains are a month after his sudden death. As stress takes its toll on their mother and costs rise, the siblings want to know what happened.
“I’m exhausted,” Miriam Jarjour said. “I’m so angry and I don’t have any answers.”
The Urgel Bourgie funeral home is also in contact with Cuban and Canadian authorities to find and recover the remains. The company’s vice president of marketing, Patrice Chavegros, told Global News that the entire situation has been “terrible for the family” and that the funeral scheduled for this week had to be canceled.
“I’ve seen this about three times in 38 years,” he said of the confusion. “This is very exceptional. It’s very weird”.
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Monday that it is “aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in Cuba. “Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the deceased in these difficult circumstances.”
“Consular officials are engaged with Cuban authorities and in contact with the family to provide consular assistance,” Global Affairs Canada said, adding that it could not provide further information for privacy reasons.
While the brothers understand that a mistake occurred, they simply want to bring their father home so they can honor his memory and grieve together as a family.
“Where is my father?” said Miriam Jarjour.
– with files from Amanda Jelowicki and Mike Armstrong of Global and The Canadian Press
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