42 years later, this woman found her son was missing from his coffin

Edinburgh: In 1975, Lydia Reid’s seven-day-old son Gary died at Edinburgh’s Hospital for Sick Children. For 42 years, Reid visited her son's grave. But he was never there.

For years, Reid suspected that her son’s organs were taken by the hospital without permission. She even thought the coffin felt empty on the day of the funeral. 

But she had no proof of it, until recently. 

In August 2017, following a court order for an exhumation at Saughton Cemetery in Edinburgh, Reid discovered that Gary's coffin has no human remains in it.

The mystery of baby Gary's death is tied to the decades-long scandal that rocked the UK in the 90s – how hospitals unlawfully retaining dead children’s body parts for research purposes. 

Reid, then a 26-year-old mother of two, went into labour six weeks early. Baby Gary, born via caesarean, was put into a special care unit. The six-day-old infant was was transferred to another hospital, where he underwent a surgery. During the operation, Gary’s heart stopped three times on the operating table. He suffered from traumatic brain damage and the hospital suggested taking him off life support. Reid agreed,

Strangely, Gary was later put back on life support. Later in the night, the police informed Reid about Gary's death. 

Reid went back to visit her baby's body.

Instead, she was shown the body of a “blond and big” baby, who was nothing like the small and dark-haired Gary.

During the funeral, Reid felt the baby's coffin was too light. Upon reporting, she was told she's suffering from post-natal depression. 

Reid now leads a campaign against hospitals unlawfully retaining dead children’s body parts for research. 

She has asked for DNA test be done from tissue samples obtained from Gary’s body after his death. 

Today, Reid is still trying to find out what happened to her baby and his body. Sometimes wondering, if her baby perhaps didn’t die, all those years ago. Or if he's still alive.