Two grieving sons in England tried to move their chairs next to their grieving mother during the Friday funeral for their father, Alan Wright, but they were reportedly told by a staff member to move back due to coronavirus guidelines.
“I can sit in a restaurant, I can sit in a pub, I can live at her house, I can travel in a limousine to the crematorium with 6,” Craig Bicknell, one of the sons, reportedly wrote in a Facebook post. “I want to give my mum a cuddle at dads funeral and this prick comes flying out aggressively in front of all shouting stop the services and makes us split.”
As the funeral service began at Crownhill Crematorium, Bicknell and his brother began moving their chairs closer to their mother, according to The Telegraph.
A son moves his chair next to his mother to comfort her at the funeral of her late husband, a member of staff says they’ve “been told” and asked to separate. It really does highlight the cruel lack of humanity and decency in the way in which we’re forced to live our lives today. pic.twitter.com/D6azRpCBAf
— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) October 5, 2020
A man then rushed into the service frantically waving his arms and reportedly said, “Sorry, sorry, you have to put the chairs back I’m afraid. You can’t move the chairs, you were told,” according to video posted by Bicknell. (RELATED: ‘Technical Issue’ To Blame For 16,000 Unreported COVID-19 Cases, British Authorities Say)
Bicknell and his brother then both moved their chairs back to their original socially distanced position, the video showed.
Milton Keynes Community Hub posted the video to Facebook, noting they were contacted by “a resident who recently said goodbye to his father at Crownhill Crematorium.”
“They wanted us to help highlight how traumatic and upsetting the experience of a funeral now is, on top of the already sadness people feel when laying somebody to rest,” the post read.
“This is not an attack on the staff member. He has a job to do and is following government guidelines which ultimately pays his bills. The way he spoke is questionable but this would never have happened if common sense was used to implement guidelines for funerals” the post continued.
A spokesperson for Milton Keynes Council apologized for the incident, according to The Sun.
“We don’t usually step in if a guest needs to be comforted by another family member and in this instance should have taken a more considered approach.” the spokesperson said, according to The Sun.
“We ask funeral directors to let us know whether any chairs should be grouped in advance, and from now on this includes guests who are in the same household or bubbles as well as people who need extra support.”
In England, mourners must adhere to funeral protocols, which include limiting the number of mourners to 30 people and social distancing.
The Daily Caller reached out to Craig Bicknell for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.