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Empty morgue (symbolic picture)
Photo: D.SINOVA / AFP
David Saunders was 98 years old.
He had fought in World War II and the Korean War.
He died on August 24 of the consequences of a corona illness.
His wife Elsie Saunders then wanted to grant one of his last wishes - and donate his body for research purposes.
But the lifeless body of David Saunders did not end up in a medical facility.
But in front of paying spectators on a dissecting table in a hotel in Portland, Oregon.
Visitors paid up to $ 500 for a ticket to the event, as reported by the British Guardian and the US newspaper The Advocate. The event took place on October 17th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., was organized by DeathScience.org and promoted as a collaboration with the so-called Oddities & Curiosities Expo. The latter is a traveling exhibition for »lovers of the strange, unusual and bizarre«, it advertises itself among other things with »handmade curiosities, medical quack equipment ... skulls / bones and much more«.
However, Oddities & Curiosities Expo distanced itself from the live dissection.
A statement said that they only set the stage for Death Science and that they "made no profit in any way from this demonstration."
"The corpse unit has never been part of the traveling exhibition."
"Terrible, Unethical"
It is thanks to a reporter from local broadcaster King 5 that Elsie Saunders found out about it at all;
he found her and spoke to her about the event.
Saunders told The Advocate, "To me, it's awful, unethical, and I just don't have the words to describe it." stand "nothing above this commercialization of his death".
According to the reports, Saunders initially wanted to donate the body to Louisiana State University (LSU).
There, however, was rejected by David Saunders with reference to Covid disease.
Elsie Saunders then contacted a private company in Las Vegas that claims to offer medical and surgical education and training - Saunders assumed that it pursues research purposes similar to LSU.
That company then sold the body to Death Science, according to the reports.
Its founder has since apologized to Elsie Saunders.
"We respect our donors and their families and appreciate their generous gift," he said, according to The Advocate.
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