Canadian woman offers her dead body for display

Not content with having merely a dusty demise, a 30 year-old mutual fund worker from Toronto has offered to donate her body for public display after death. Stephanie Chapu said the ÒBody WorldsÓ exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre, which displays real human bodies, would fulfill her desire to have a posthumous purpose.

ÒI always wanted to donate my body for the progress of science but wanted to do it somewhat differently. This was just perfect,Ó she said, citing the educational value of the exhibits.

Chapu said that community reaction has been mixed, but friends and family have mostly been supportive, though some have raised religious or moral objections.

ÒThey have the right to their decision, but they should also respect mine. Why cremate or bury your body when it can be of use?Ó she asked.

More than 16 million people world-wide have viewed the travelling exhibition, organised by the German Institute for Plastination, which houses more than 6,000 donated cadavers, a spokeswoman said. The exhibits are preserved through plastination, a technique where water and fat in the soft tissue are replaced with plastic polymers. Whole body specimens are displayed, which reveal bones, muscle, tendons, nerves, blood vessels and organs. Among the exhibits are embryos, foetuses and a pregnant woman who died with her foetus in her womb.

ÒI like that you can finally see what we look like on the inside in a very tasteful manner. I donÕt think itÕs disrespectful at all to the donors,Ó said Chapu. The exhibition has stirred controversy in the past, with German media alleging some of the bodies were those of Chinese execution victims. The organisers have denied the reports.