I found another area that the dead are being disrespected…they
are not even being buried. Many cities are now facing the difficulty of not
having enough funds to bury people in a Potter’s Field. "One way we look back at a culture is how
they dispose of their dead," said Schmidt. "We see people here that
society was not taking care of before they died -- and society is having
difficulty taking care of them after they are dead."[1] The reason…money, or lack thereof. So once again, my
research will take another turn with looking at how the downturn in the economy
plays a role in the treatment of the unclaimed dead.
This is a short
video clip of the Wayne County morgue in Detroit. The city is has come upon some
tough economic times in turn, its residents are having difficulty finding the
money to bury their loved ones. Please watch this short video clip of the trouble that Detroit is facing with the numerous amount of bodies piling up in the city morgue.
I have found a story that
gives me some comfort. It is about a slave that died over 200 years ago. There
reason why this story warms my heart is that he was recently given an extravagant
funeral. This is someone who would have never received such a distinguished
burial had it been conducted right after his death. Here is a picture of from
the funeral and I have also included the link to the article. I found it truly
touching and has renewed my faith in humanity. http://news.yahoo.com/conn-slave-died-1798-called-child-god-221111994.html
Figure 1[2]
[1] Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/cities-too-poor-to-bury-d_n_306702.html
[2] Retrieved from: http://news.yahoo.com/conn-slave-died-1798-called-child-god-221111994.html
I cannot image the family just leaving the body because they could not pay for a funeral or cremation. It can be very tough for lower income families to come up with money all of a sudden. Some states offer programs to help with funeral/cremation costs for low income, but it can take weeks/months sometimes to get that paperwork though and then it is still not guaranteed they would be approved.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the body could be donated to a medical school for free so it is not laying around in a morgue
Christina,
ReplyDeleteYour suggestion about donating bodies to science or medical research makes all too much sense. It makes me wonder why that has not been made an available option to alleviate the congestion in morgues. So I looked into the matter and yes, indeed bodies can be donated with the next of kin’s consent if the deceased did not make their wishes prior to death. There are some restrictions but this seems like a much better way to handle, for lack of better terms leftover remains. Most states allow body doantions. I found a few places that handle whole body donations and they appear to be very comparable in what they offer the families such as returning cremated remain if requested. All of the transportation and cremation will be done at no cost to the next of kin. Below are the a few websites that offer whole body donations. This is definitely what I have planned for my remains. My husband and my parents have already been told my wishes.
Reference:
http://www.biogift.org/index.html
http://lifequest-anatomical.com/index.php
http://medcure.org/
http://www.sciencecare.com/