A Seattle couple has filed a lawsuit alleging that hospital staff in Oregon told them to drive their nearly 9-month-old son’s body home in their own car after he died unexpectedly in an emergency room.
Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev are seeking $10 million from Salem Health and Dr. Stefani Sorensen. According to the lawsuit, the parents asked for respectful care and transportation of their son Michael’s remains, but hospital staff allegedly insisted that they take his body home themselves.
Michael was born with Down syndrome and spent the first six months of his life receiving care at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
“His parents had made sure that he had received really excellent care. So, I think it was a really, really sad and just very tragic way for his life to end and for it to be so undignified right there at the end,” family attorney Anna Bruckenhoefer said in a statement, according to Fox 13.
A Seattle couple is suing after hospital staff in Oregon told them to drive the body of their nearly 9-month-old son four hours home in their private car following his sudden death in an emergency room. (Google Maps)
The family was visiting Salem, Oregon, for a religious retreat on September 22, 2024, when Michael began breathing rapidly and shallowly late at night. His parents rushed him to the emergency room at Salem Health Hospital, where he died, the complaint says.
When the parents asked how to arrange respectful transportation for Michael’s body back to Seattle, hospital staff allegedly discouraged them from contacting a local funeral home, saying it would be “too expensive.” Instead, the lawsuit claims, they pressured the family to take Michael’s body with them in their personal vehicle. The parents ultimately did so because they felt they had no other option.
“They have repeatedly asked the hospital for assistance in helping them with what are the next steps,” Bruckenhoefer said. “This was all occurring overnight. They felt rushed that they had to make quick decisions and the hospital left them with no choice other than to take Michael’s body with them and head back to Seattle.”
Aleksandr drove roughly four hours from Salem to Seattle with his son’s body lying across the back seat, while Nataliya and their other children followed in a separate vehicle.
Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev filed a $10 million lawsuit against Salem Health and Dr. Stefani Sorensen. (Google Maps)
The lawsuit says Aleksandr experienced severe emotional distress during the journey, fearing police stops, a car crash and the visible deterioration of his child’s body. After reaching a Seattle funeral home, he also had to clean bodily fluids that had leaked onto the vehicle’s seat.
“It is legal in the state of Oregon and in the state of Washington to transport a deceased with the proper permits. But that is not what our clients wanted to do here. They were looking for help. They were looking for guidance. They were looking for the hospital to tell them, ‘These are the next steps,’” Bruckenhoefer said. “This is a hospital. It’s an emergency department. Unfortunately, death is something that they are accustomed to and that they deal with. They should have had procedures and protocols in place to assist the Yeremeyevs while they were dealing with literally the worst moment of their lives. Instead, what they did is they just compounded their grief by essentially telling them that they were on their own in this.”
“No parents, no loved ones should ever be placed in the position that the Yeremeyevs were placed in,” Bruckenhoefer added. “Just completely surprised that something like this would happen in 2026.”
The lawsuit names Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics, Salem Health, Salem Emergency Physicians Service and Sorensen as defendants. It alleges direct negligence, vicarious liability and a breach of the heightened duty of care owed to grieving parents in the respectful treatment and custody of a child’s body.
Aleksandr Yeremeyev drove about four hours from Salem to Seattle with his son’s body laid across the backseat. (Google Maps)
The family is seeking $10 million in noneconomic damages for severe emotional distress and psychological trauma. They also plan to amend the complaint to seek punitive damages.
Salem Health Hospital said it could not discuss details of the child’s care because of privacy concerns and the ongoing litigation.
“Salem Hospital responded in accordance with the family’s wishes and followed both hospital policy and Oregon state law in consultation with the appropriate local authorities, including the medical examiner,” Salem Health said in a statement to Fox 13.
“Care with respect is a guiding principle of clinical practice at Salem Hospital and remains central to how we support patients and families during some of life’s most difficult moments. We recognize the profound grief families experience following the loss of a loved one and treat every patient and family with empathy, dignity, and respect,” the statement continued.