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On Friday, at the Anschutz Campus of the CU Medical Department, an annual ceremony was held to honor those who donated their bodies to science. My father was one of those people. Instead of having a traditional Jewish funeral, he always said, “Don’t make a big deal over me. When I’m gone, I’m gone,” which is what prompted him to donate his body so others could learn. During the ceremony, family members were invited to say a few words. I was one of the youngest to speak, and I talked about how Dad always supported his sons’ education, even though he never went to college himself. By donating his body, he was making the ultimate contribution to education by helping others learn from his life.

A program was passed out to everyone, containing poems and words of gratitude from current pre-med students. Here’s some of my favorites, which epitomizes what it means to donate your body:

“The giving of one’s body to science is the most generous gift one can give. With this gift came a great deal of responsibility. We had a responsibility to respect the donor’s body, as well as the life they led, and the people that loved them. We also had a responsibility to utilize their body to gather a deep understanding of the human body, a type of understanding that can only come from experiencing the miracle of the human body in this way. Lastly, we had a responsibility to utilize this knowledge to provide better care for our future patients because of what we learned. I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity. I revere these responsibilities, and I will continue to uphold them. Being able to have this experience has changed my life, in the personal sense and the scientific sense. I am thankful and humbled to have been able to learn about the human body in this way.” ~ Chelsea Shellhart, School of Dental Medicine 2014

“I was honored and humbled. Somebody trusted my academic potential and young professionalism enough to donate his body to my learning. I worked to meet those expectations. I was inspired by the gift of the donor’s body – inspired lo learn anatomy, inspired to think about mortality, and inspired to think about giving. I will never forget that the left recurrent laryngeal nerve loops under the aorta because I located the nerve, cleaned it, and demonstrated its relation to surrounding tissues for classmates and professors. I also won’t forget discussions with my peers on end of life issues and death rituals. Our discussions were inspired by our experiences with “death” in the lab. I remember thinking, “someone has given to me…and to honor that gift, I will give to others.” I think of how I can give back. I pass on the gift by caring for the sick and instructing learners, and one day, my body will be a gift, too. My organs will be harvested for transplant or my entire body will be preserved for dissection. Thank you for waiting to bury your loved one.” ~ Stephen Wills, MSI CUSOM 2014

“Thank you so much for donating your body to us. I thought about you so much throughout the process. I always wished that I could have met you, to hear your story. I wondered who your family was, and if they were there when you died….Through your body you have taught me so much about medicine. You made me think about you as a whole, and generously showed me all of your individual parts. I’ll never forget some things because of you – I can still picture some of your tendons perfectly in my mind. It is such a gift that you have given us. You were the best first patient I could have asked for, and you were so unique and interesting in your own way. You helped me understand just how different each of us are. I hope you are resting in peace now, in a beautiful location with those that love you. Thank you so much!! ~ Kristen French MSI

Tags: dad, memorial