Court Orders Man's Body Exhumed To Cut Off His Head

Orville Richardson had one simple wish for his end. When he died, he wanted his head cut off and cryogenically frozen by Alcor Life Extension Foundation. His family had other plans however, and had Orville buried. Alcor sued the family and the Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered the relatives to exhume his body so his head can be removed and put in frozen storage. Nothing warms the heart like a good head-freezing story.

Comments

why?

[ShadowXOmega]

if the head is cut off after buried...the brain will not be in decomposition?... i think that procedure will just preserve rotten meat at least...or im wrong?

Re:why?

[hawkfish]

if the head is cut off after buried...the brain will not be in decomposition?... i think that procedure will just preserve rotten meat at least...or im wrong?

At least they have set a precedent for the next person in this position.

Re:why?

[Mr. Slippery]

think that procedure will just preserve rotten meat at least

Not much different than standard cryonics procedure, then, which "preserves" freezer-burned meat.

More importantly, Alcor is to be paid $53,000 for freezing this hunk of meat. This has nothing to do with the wishes of the deceased, or about any long, long, long shot of reviving freezer-burned meat; it's all about the benjamins.

Re:why?

[natehoy]

You're right, and wrong.

Mr. Richardson is well and truly dead at this point, so you're absolutely right there. He died in Feb 2009, so even if the family complies immediately, he's been dead for well over a year, and decomposition of the brain tissue pretty much assures that nothing short of cloning is likely to bring him back.

However, Mr. Richardson didn't sue the family (he's dead, remember?). Alcor Life Extension did. They sued probably primarily to get a precedent on file. That way, when this happens next time, they can get a quick judgment and get control of the patient's head quickly enough to freeze it before the damage becomes as severe as Mr. Richardson's is.

Not that I think cryogenically freezing the head, or even the entire body, stands a chance in hell of bringing someone back, but with the rise in population we'll no doubt need more spare organs in the future, and I for one don't mind having people put their bodies on ice at their own expense. More spare parts to go around.

Re:why?

[nawitus]

$53 000 is a reasonable cost. It also has everything to do with the wishes of the deceased. And yes, there's a concrete chance of revival. I could answer your arguments against cryonics, but sadly you didn't provide any. And that's how cryonics debates usually go. You should probably read about a rabbit kidney which was cryopreserved, then thawed and implanted to a living rabbit. Of course, this is fact is in disagreement with your dishonest worldview, so you ignore it.

Re:why?

[RockDoctor]

Not that I think cryogenically freezing the head, or even the entire body, stands a chance in hell of bringing someone back, but with the rise in population we'll no doubt need more spare organs in the future, and I for one don't mind having people put their bodies on ice at their own expense. More spare parts to go around.

"Corpsicle", I think, is the word that you're looking for.

What is needed

[SnarfQuest]

What we need are a few good Igor's.

Re:What is needed

[BoogieChile]

A few good Igor's what?

The Worms Crawl In The Worms Crawl Out.

[BraksDad]

Do the need to freeze the creepy crawlies that may have already taken up homestead in his head?