Posted on 02/17/2002 11:39:54 PM PST by prisoner6
Dang I wish I knew how the Pittsburgh Bump List worked.
By Michael Hasch
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, February 18, 2002
Medical personnel at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh were stunned over the weekend when an Indiana County man showed up at the emergency-room entrance to donate his estranged wife's body for research.
The woman, W. Delight Malitsky, 77, a well-known violinist and pianist, died last week of natural causes in a Philadelphia-area hospital, said Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht.
It was not clear last night if Malitsky's husband, Andrii Malyc-kyi,, 70, of Indiana, Pa. who picked up his wife's body from a Philadelphia-area funeral home, packed it in dry ice and a cardboard cremation box and drove to Pittsburgh with it in the back of a rental van will face any charges in the case.
"It's a truly sad and regrettable situation all around," Wecht said Sunday. "It's a bizarre situation. I've never heard of anything like it."
"I haven't spoken to (Malyc-kyi) so I can't tell you anything about his mental state, beliefs or motivation," Wecht said. "But it sounds to me that he had a genuine interest in having some kind of medical examination done He said his wife had some rare medical condition and he wanted them to do some further study and research."
"It was a perfectly legitimate request if he would have asked the (Philadelphia hospital or the medical examiner in Philadelphia) to conduct the autopsy (when she died)," Wecht said.
Malyc-kyi apparently was searching for a UPMC physician who had treated his wife in the past, Wecht said.
Malitsky, a former concertmaster with the symphony orchestras in Westmoreland County, Johnstown and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, had been living in recent years with her daughter, Phyllis Kennedy, in Philadelphia.
She died Wednesday at Abington Memorial Hospital near Philadelphia of natural causes.
"There was a mix-up of some kind at the hospital. The daughter apparently was given the power of attorney for her mother, but the hospital evidently notified the husband when (Malitsky) died," Wecht said.
The hospital released the body Friday to the John R. Freed Funeral Home in Glenside, near Philadelphia. The funeral home apparently released the body to Malyc-kyi on Saturday.
Malcy-kyi had made arrangements to take the body to the Bence Mihalcik Funeral Home in Indiana so that his wife could be cremated.
Instead, he drove to Pittsburgh where he arrived at the hospital about 6:30 p.m. Saturday. He told police the airlines refused to fly his wife's body because it had not been embalmed.
Wecht said it is not normal procedure for a funeral home to release a body to anyone other than a coroner, another funeral home, crematory or other licensed specialist. It was unclear last night if the Freed Funeral Home violated any laws.
Those who answered the telephone at both funeral homes refused comment last night. Neither Malyc-kyi nor his daughter could be reached for comment.
Deputies from the Allegheny County Coroner's Office happened to be at UPMC on another case when Malyc-kyi arrived, Wecht said. They were immediately summoned by security personnel, who also called University of Pittsburgh police and city homicide detectives.
The body was taken to the coroner's office, where it was examined yesterday and released to the Indiana County funeral home, Wecht said.
"Fortunately, it would seem that things are going to work out in compliance with (Malitsky's) wishes to be cremated," Wecht said.
Malitsky spent several years as an associate professor in the Department of Music at IUP, where she received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Creative Arts in 1984.
She earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Hawaii and completed a double major in violin and piano at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
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and
She died Wednesday at Abington Memorial Hospital near Philadelphia of natural causes.
Let's see...died Wednesday...not embalmed...released and made the trip 3 days later...whooo-boy...I hope this guy had the airconditioner on all the way across the state.
prisoner6
Indiana County is VERY close to Pittsburgh(Spelled with an H at the end BTW)
Where did Philadelphia figure into this, JEEESH..
I'm originally from around Indiana County, you're talking apple and oranges here....
Now that would have been one conversation I would like to have listened to.
You crazy nut. I laughed my guts out! Thanks buddy! There's nothing better than FREEper sarcasm... I love it. Regards...
Here...
She died Wednesday at Abington Memorial Hospital near Philadelphia of natural causes.
He drove to Philly, picked up the body...probably stopped for a couple of cheesestakes...maye got a bit fo sleep in the car with his date...then drove back to the 'burgh. Got it?
prisoner6
: )
: )
Does everyone die of natural causes near Philadelphia?
LOL!... I'd love to see the style guide the Trib staff writers have to use. When you have to check the Trib as well as the Post Gazette everyday like I do, it makes you wonder if the Trib wirters are kept on a short leash and write pretty much to form.
prisoner6
"I'd rather be here then in Philadelphia"
"I knew something was wrong. She hadn't bitched about anything for over 4 hours," he said to police.
Yeah and they are all Squeeler(see: Steelers) fans.
Bwhahahahahahaha
This may be Pittsburgh, but at least it's not CLEVELAND!
prisoner6
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