A DISTRAUGHT son leapt into his mum's grave after bungling undertakers dropped her coffin.
Darren Clarke says he's been unable to sleep and suffers flashbacks after the horrifying mistake at the funeral.
Mourners had gathered to pay their respects to Doris Lonsdale, 75, when the accident happened at the end of the service.
Mr Clarke, of Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, said he couldn't bear to watch as the coffin was lowered into the ground.
But after hearing gasps from others, he looked up to see the casket had fallen in.
He immediately leapt into the grave to set it right, StaffordshireLive reports.
Mr Clarke told the paper: "They were carrying her coffin to the grave at waist height.
"I couldn't watch so I faced the tree about three metres away.
"Then I heard a gasp. I turned round to see and my sister say they'd dropped my mum.
SON'S DEVASTATION
"I ran over and jumped in the grave. I lifted it right and got her back out.
"I am just grateful it didn't open."
Funeral directors Murray's has apologised and paid compensation to the family.
But Mr Clarke said he's been unable to return to the graveside in Stapenhill since.
"I haven't been back to the cemetery," he said.
"I wake up sweating. We haven't been able to grieve. It's horrible.
"I keep replaying it. I feel like I've let my mum down.
'I FEEL LIKE I LET HER DOWN'
"It was undignified for my mum. This happened on my watch."
Bosses at Murray's said one end of the coffin accidentally fell as it was being lowered.
"It's not about money," Mr Clarke said.
"I was off work and on sleeping tablets.
"What will they do to make sure this doesn't happen again to someone else?"
David and Sue Barke, of Murray's, said: "Murray’s Funeral Directors acknowledges that there was an accident in December while a coffin was being lowered into a grave, when one end of the coffin fell in.
"The situation was resolved promptly, and the burial continued in a dignified manner.
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"Murray’s acknowledges the obvious upset this caused family and bystanders and has apologised both personally and in writing.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before in the 21 years that we have been serving the community in Burton and we are naturally extremely upset for the family.
"As a company we are proud of the excellent reputation, for the quality of service we provide and always act with the aim of helping families through the distressing time of a bereavement, as sensitively and professionally as possible."
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