An English woman was startled to discover her own obituary after a friend called to check if she was “not dead.” Faye Finaro, 39, from Nottingham, was taken aback when she found her name and photo in the obituary section of the Mansfield Chad’s website.
According to the British publication Metro, a friend spotted the accidental notice of Finaro’s death, which included an option to send flowers to her bereaved family, in the Legacy section of the site. Before long, friends from various places were reaching out to confirm whether she was indeed alive or if the “Faye Finaro Obituary” was genuine.
Finaro, who operates a beauty business, took to Facebook to reassure her loved ones that she was very much alive. She also emailed the publication to explain that a mix-up likely occurred. She said, “[Two] years ago, a celebration was sent to the Mansfield Chad website congratulating me on my business launch. It appears this section of the Chad is merged now with the legacy obituaries, and it is showing that I am dead.”
She humorously noted that she might end up receiving a month’s worth of flowers due to the confusion. Finaro mentioned that some acquaintances found the situation “hilarious,” and her son thought the idea of a living person having an obituary was “really funny.”
Finaro believes the mix-up happened because there was some overlap between the celebrations page and the obituaries, leaving the photos and captions in the database before they were transferred to Legacy. The obituary appeared in a keyword search on the website, with the friend who initially called her looking for a news story about an award and inadvertently finding the death notice.
A spokesperson for Legacy confirmed that they were aware of the error and were in contact with Finaro to resolve the issue.
