None of us love the idea of dying, but most of us resign ourselves to it as an inevitable part of human existence. However, some people have decided to take their life into their own hands, and try to extend it through a hard-to-believe scheme.
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Hundreds of people from around the world have decided to freeze their bodies in a bid to cheat death. This service is offered by the Cryonics Institute (CI) and one member, Alan Sinclair, has shared what his hopes are for the future. Here’s everything you need to know about the CI and what Alan is expecting.
The Cryonics Institute
This scheme is run by the Cryonics Institute, to which people sign up when they want to cheat death. Once these people have died through natural causes, their bodies are frozen in containers in liquid nitrogen. They are placed head-down, alongside other bodies, in the hope that one day science will advance enough to release them with a new spell of life.
Alan, speaking about the scheme, says it’s ‘better than being fed to the worms’. The great-grandfather will celebrate his 86th birthday on Thursday, and is the only person in his living family signed up to the $28,000 (£22,990) scheme. His late wife, Sylvia, died from cancer in 2013 and her body is already in cryonic storage.
Alan’s expectations
Speaking about a possible reunion with his wife, Alan seems hopeful but philosophical:
It’s something I would look forward to. If it happens it happens.
His long-term partner Janet also died of cancer, but she was not signed up to the scheme. Talking about the future, Alan says:
It would be nice to meet future generations of the family, I suppose it would be the same as it is now and I would give them money and take them out for meals.
It’s always nice to meet family, whenever it happens.
He imagines that he’ll be frozen for around 50-150 years before science catches up to the idea and allows it to come to fruition. After ‘reanimation’, he is excited to learn about the new technology as this is something he is interested in. That being said, he reckons the human brain won’t have changed all that much:
The technology will be different but I don’t think the human personality or brain will be that much different.
It’s not that different now to three or four hundred years ago, we’re still killing one another, except it’s with an explosion rather than a spear.
Alan explains that he doesn’t want to die at all, but accepts that it is going to happen at some point:
On the other hand, it’s unavoidable. I’m just getting on with life and enjoying it and I feel very lucky, I’ve got a new partner and we’re getting on very well, so life continues.
Indeed, he will step out with his new partner for a Thai meal to celebrate his birthday later this week. Alan is one of 1,975 living CI members worldwide. The US contributes the largest number, with 1,374 residents signed up to get their bodies frozen. However, the UK is next in line with 128 people waiting to have their corpses or those of their pets preserved in the hope of a second shot at life.
Read more:
⋙ Man declared dead called his family months after his own funeral: 'It was so surreal'
⋙ Man manages to talk with his dead grandmother thanks to A.I.
⋙ This woman was declared dead for 24 minutes before coming back to life
Sources used:
Metro: Man set for cryonic storage reveals what he thinks life will be like after reawakening
The Daily Star: Brit girl, 14, among hundreds of frozen bodies hoping to be thawed and revived
