Three Abandoned Children Found In Shed
Mom With Flesh-Eating Disease Remains Critical
Cremated father reunited with family
Filed under: Relatives, Activities: Babies, Health & Safety: Babies, Medical Conditions, In The News, Weird But True
Yes, you read that right. A little early for Halloween, sure, but this is one of those stories too weird--and creepy--to not be true. A Greater Manchester man who police and family thought was dead re-entered their lives after his son spotted him on television. The man, John Delaney, was believed to have died in April of 2000. Police accidentally misidentified a body as his and his family had a funeral for him, cremating the body of what they believed to be the patriarch in 2003.
Delaney had actually suffered a head injury and been admitted to a hospital days later. He suffered amnesia and was unable to give medical professionals his name. He was transferred to a home and stayed there for eight years before his son identified him while watching a show about missing people.
The son, John Renehan, said that while his father had been cremated, he "knew" the man he saw on television was his father. And he was right. Goes to show you have to trust your instincts sometimes. Now the family is happily reunited in what is truly an amazing story for the books. Sadly, the body of the person who was believed to be Delaney and subsequently cremated, has yet to be identified.
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
Marlo Thomas With Relationship Expert Dr. Dale Atkins
Was your Thanksgiving warm and wonderful, or tinged with some unresolved family issues? Are you looking forward to the rest of the holiday season with family, or dreading it? On Monday, November 29, we had a live chat with relationships expert Dale Atkins, PhD, in which we discussed the many different ways you can maximize your enjoyment of the holidays. Part of the series "I Have To Ask"
-
Basic Gear and Equipment for Family Camping
Mark Phillips, family camping expert, provides information on the basic equipment needed for camping, such as a tent, sleeping bag and lighting options.
-
Top 10 Ideas for Thanksgiving Family Activities
Ideas for Thanksgiving Family Activities - as part of the holiday series by GeoBeats.
Here are the top 10 fun family activities for thanksgiving.
- Number 10, take a trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts where the first Thanksgiving was held.
- Number 9, go through old family pictures and movies and tell stories.
- Number 8, go on a thanksgiving day cruise.
- Number 7, engage whole family in creating fun crafts.
- Number 6, take a family day trip to an unexplored nearby attraction.
- Number 5
-
Family Meal Tricks
Daddy Clay and Daddy Owen ask their panel of parenting experts about the family dinner, "Do you sit down and have dinner with your family every night? And if so, how do you pull it off?" Some suggestions from the panel include: try family lunches, turn off the TV, call in some help, get the kids involved with the cooking, order in and most certainly make it fun. Leave your best tips in the comments.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 3 of 3)
9-06-2008 @ 5:41PM
jeneen30 said...My question is about the father. If he has amnesia and hasn't known who he was for the past 8 years, there is a very good chance that this is a traumatic event for him right now. I'm not saying they shouldn't be reunited, but I just wonder how he is handling all the news of a family that he doesn't remember.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 6:10PM
Georgia said...what a mistake to do, but thanks for the blessing of having a family member return. how lucky he is and I am sure gratelful. wow the dead one could be my long lost fugitive cousin. I miss him. we always attended the family funerals.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 6:12PM
Angiebaby said...Wouldn't it be nice if all long-term separations ended so sweetly? Sigh. But I do wonder whose ashes those are....
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 6:15PM
SharpestLives said...This is so surreal it is as if i am reading a book. Its not amazing, yet it is that this actually happens in reality. And the reality is that we should all be more critical about thinking and judging before we actually do. Ugh!
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 7:01PM
leonard t said...one llucky man, 1 unlucky man, did this man who lived get his memory back?
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 7:09PM
Ima Grouch said...I too had an older brother who just walked out the door one day when I was 15 yrs old and the family never heard from him again.
Then a couple of years ago a cousin was researching the family geneaology and came across the information that he had died in
1996. None of the family ever knew it. I was 15 when he left and I was in my 70's when we learned he had died. At least we finally had some closure. Strange things do happen.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 7:26PM
Lismara829 said...Must have been the fault of George Bush, everything else is.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 7:26PM
3D said...I had a friend who passed away. He wanted nothing to do with his family and did not speak to them for over 30 years. I would like to find them to let them know what happened. Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this?
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 7:30PM
Lismara829 said...What was his name and how old was he? Where did he die? Send me your info, I can check it for you.
9-06-2008 @ 7:43PM
3D said...Lismara829 that would be great. Can you email me so I can give you the info? My email is kightlinger841@yahoo.com
9-06-2008 @ 8:07PM
Lillian said...Remind me to never move there!!!! Someone suffers a head injury, can't remember their name and is just put into a home? No one tried to find out more about the man??? When he went missing, didn't his family go to the authorities and have his photo plastered all over the town and on the TV? Something sounds VERY strange here. Something sounds fishy to me.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 8:11PM
Valarie said...I'm happy for the family It is nice to know the son didn't give up.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 8:26PM
Patches said...This family is very lucky.
Please read the article, some
of you don't really get the information correct from the article you just read.
I wonder if they will have to pay back social security for his children that may have benefited
.Recall the son that saw his dad on "a missing persons show"on television.See someone was looking for information about this man, probably the house he was living in or maybe a friend that he met over the years and decided to help the man find his family and memory.
I hope hope the i.r.s. leaves them alone...Read the articles.
hugs
Texas
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 11:06PM
Cearralyn said...They did not report the father missing. They went along with what the police told them..and the body may have been in too bad of shape to identify visually. They had the body that the police told them was their father cremated. They did not have him cremated and then report him missing. I just do not see how you twisted up the article so much while you read it. It is very clear as to what happened.
Reply