Britons sign to be pickled in plastic
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The first people from the UK to donate their bodies to the controversial Heidelberg Institute for Plastination will meet their future maker in east London tomorrow.
Twenty people will join delegates at a conference called by Professor Gunther von Hagens at a former brewery to discuss their wishes. When their time comes, their mortal remains, or at least parts of them, will be preserved in plastic.
Also at the meeting will be vociferous opponents of this unusual process. While they debate, members of the public will tour an exhibition of plastinated bodies in the the Atlantis Gallery of the Old Truman Brewery. Body Worlds has attracted more than 254,000 visitors since its opening in late March.
"I have always believed that one doesn't die, that one's spirit only leaves one's body," said 51-year-old Raymond Edwards, a prospective donor. "There was no way I would have wanted to be buried."
When he read about Professor von Hagens's programme, Mr Edwards decided to donate his body. He took his parents to see Body Worlds and says that they are comfortable with his decision.
"I would like my friends and family to plant a tree or make a donation to charity for my remembrance," Mr Edwards said. "I will die very happy, knowing my body will generate an educational interest."
Professor von Hagens said: "Signing a body donation is an acknowledgement of your own mortality." He sees plastination as a kind of "secularised burial".
"To be so near to those representatives of former lives reminds people of their mortality, not in a moment of shock but in a festive atmosphere," he said.
A spokesman for the Retained Organs Commission described the exhibition as "morally abhorrent" but was sending a representative to tomorrow's meeting.
"The need for respectful treatment of the bodies of the dead is amongst the fundamental values of our society and to exhibit them for commercial gain is an affront to public decency", the commission said in a statement.
Ruth Webster, of the National Committee relating to Organ Retention, said she had tried to prevent the exhibition going ahead but has since met Professor von Hagens in person and no longer has a problem with plastination – as long as it is with total consent of the body donor. She said relatives would regret not having a place they could go to lay flowers and remember loved ones.
Dr Colin Stolkin, senior lecturer in anatomy at King's College London said: "Relatives find the experience difficult, but the exhibition is a bridge between the public and the medical profession."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments