Body donors meet creator of preserved corpse exhibition

DONORS who want their bodies to feature in a controversial exhibition of preserved corpses yesterday questioned the show’s creator about their decision.

Donors from around the country travelled to London to meet Professor Gunther von Hagens, creator of the anatomical show Body Worlds.

They were joined by National Committee Relating to Organ Retention members.

"We have to enlarge the communication between the lay people and all parts of the medical establishment and this I call democratisation of anatomy," Prof. von Hagens said at the show at the Atlantic Gallery in Brick Lane.

The exhibit, which has been seen by more than 200,000 visitors since it opened in London in March, uses a technique called plastinisation to preserve the corpses.

"For me, it was about taking control of my death and what happens to me after I died," donor Raymond Edwards said.

"I have been to so many funerals where I thought this person didn't want it to happen like this," the 51-year-old from Islington, North London, said.

Colin Hill, 17, from Chapel Allerton, Leeds, said he wanted to give his body after first visiting the exhibition.

"It is all about reality for me, more than with art or in literature," he said.

"It shows what the human condition is."

Juanita Carberry, 77, from London, said: "I am a great recycler and I think it's a good idea to recycle my body.

"I had originally left my body to be buried at sea but that was complicated, so I thought of medical research and taking out the spare parts, but I am getting a bit old so the spare parts are probably worn out," she said.

NACOR chairwoman Michaela Willis spoke about the importance of consent and raised concerns about the purchase of some parts of the exhibition.

Prof. von Hagens said the only parts of the exhibition that had been purchased were from historical anatomical specimens and no whole bodies had been paid for.

He also said that bodies were used without consent only in countries where the law allowed it.

He said that as long as a body was kept cool, it could be preserved for up to two weeks before being plastinised.

Also available for viewing at the meeting were the consent forms of more than 5,000 people from around the world who had agreed to donate their bodies.

"I think it went well and I'm glad we came," NACOR national co-ordinator Ruth Webster said.

"The professor came across as very approachable. I think people see him as quite a sinister character, so it was good for the donors to meet him and see how he really is," she said.