Can You Handle Watching A Human Dissection? I Did. Here It Is


I don’t consider myself a particularly squeamish person. I’m a mom, after all. Not much I haven’t seen! But as a teenage nurse’s aide another lifetime ago, I passed out while watching a breast tumor removal.

I didn’t even feel grossed out at the time. I just….passed out. One minute I was watching the surgery, mesmerized, and I heard the doctor say “get her out of here.” The next moment, I woke up on the floor in the hallway. I guess it was shocking to me, even on a subconscious level. In one moment, I changed my career path from “nurse” to “anything but nurse.” Hats off to nurses and doctors!

The Institute of Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany is doing something incredible and creative for the purpose of teaching us exactly how complex the human anatomy is – they’re dissecting humans in front of a live audience and recording it for mass distribution on the internet.

It must be noted here that all of the bodies dissected by the Institute of Plastination are formally donated to the Institute for this purpose, and the donors wishes were that their remains be used for educational purposes. About the dissection in the video particularly, the scientist notes:

A 55-year-old man who made an extraordinary wish before he died that his remains to be used by me to educate people about human anatomy. I met him several times. He was passionate about science and the enlightenment of laypeople.

This video isn’t easy to watch, but it’s the one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever watched. It’s graphic, folks. Very. But if you can get through it without passing out (I did!), you’ll learn so much.

My cousin who died of lung cancer last year donated his body to science. I remember thinking at the time “how amazing.” It inspired me to explore doing the same. I’ve procrastinated in setting it in stone (or even in motion, to be honest), but I think I’ll try to get to that in the very near future.

As my longtime readers know, I’ve suffered from debilitating clinical depression for my entire life. As far as I can tell, it’s completely chemical because it’s with me in times of plenty and times of want, in good health and poor health, and during the happiest times and the saddest times. Maybe my brain would be useful for med students. I dunno! I have a request, though: please don’t eat sandwiches over me and joke about how fat I am! (j/k, go ahead if you want….)

It’s an honor for us to be able to learn from the gifts of these amazing donors.

Watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md5AgFidApY

I had a successful career actively working with at-risk youth, people struggling with poverty and unemployment, and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. In 2011, I made the decision to pursue my dreams and become a full-time writer. Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.