Want to see a dead body?Follow

I actually have never seen a dead body that I can recall. Most of my grandparents that have died either did so when I was really young, and was considered too young to go to the funeral, or more recently when I was in the middle of Senior finals at college and could not make it home in time for the funeral. missed it by 1 !@#$% day. So I guess I really haven't experianced that aspect of it.

I saw my first one around when I was eight. My aunt had a beach house that was a couple of kilometers from this beautiful beach, but the beach directly in front of her house had this sort of precipice, and the kind of current which would grab you and pull you under if you went in more than 10 or so meters.

Well this young couple had gone swimming, later then newspaper said the girl was playing coy and swam a little too far, and the current pulled her under. Her boyfriend, a 23-year old teacher swam after her and literally tossed her close enough that she got a foothold and climbed out, but he was swept under. My friends and I were riding our bikes by when she asked us for help because he was drowning.

I biked back to the house and got my mom, a nurse, while my aunt called the police. That poor guy swam all that morning, through the night... Almost 16 hours... He kept trying to make it to the shore and would get picked up and beaten into the cliff. The helicopters couldn't get him because they couldn't keep a hold of him, and once he was swept near the rocks they couldn't fly as close as they needed to without fear of crashing...

Well needless to say my mother had sent me home, but I biked out right before daybreak because my mother hadn't come home, and I was worried, and I was a dumb kid that didn't know any better. There was a bonfire. Seems that now that he had died, the girl was waiting for him to wash up, and my mother and aunt were waitng with her. I saw the body out of the corner of my eye as my mother hustled me away, but I remember the awe and respect I felt for that poor guy. He was so purple and cut up, and he tried right until the end. I often think of him.


Next body was when my friend's father died. I walked up to the casket with him because he was shaking. Poor kid. Family was Mexican and the deceased had things pinned on him, mementoes for the afterlife, and afterwards he told me that he wished he hadn't given in to the temptation to look at the casket, because it was the last memory he had of him and it wasn't a good one.

Yeah, I'm not down for the casket viewings.

Edited, Mon Jan 26 08:56:11 2004 by Atomicflea

Damn, I thought somebody had "taken care" of Katie for me.

Bah, shows how much respect you all have for your Queen.

First time I saw a dead body, it was my Step Grandfather's, he was a crotchety old man, never talked to me, and even when I was around 6 I could realize he was an ***-hole.

Didn't care too much when he passed away.

He looked like Hank Hill's father, just about as tall too, but it wasn't for a cool reason like Hank's father, he was just short. Maybe that was why he was so angry, I'd be pissed if I was that short.

Yikes. Didn't mean to dredge that up, Angua. That's not a "wish you hadn't posted" but a "hope I didn't upset you".

I have to admit I'm a little suprised at the responses here. I probably first attended a wake somewhere between six and eight years of age. Since then, I've attended at least twelve to fifteen wakes/funerals, all open casket from what I can recall. Been a pall bearer several times, done readings at funerals, etc. It's just always been a part of life for me.

Don't worry about it, Joph. It doesn't touch me anymore when I talk about it, it's like reciting some well learned verse. I've had many tragedies in my life, and for the most part I can look at them in a fashion that doesn't make me feel anything.

Flea - your story was really awful. Thinking of that poor guy and all those people there to help him but they couldn't. Ugh. =(

Hmm..saw my dad after he died in a motorcycle accident. Mom couldn't deal with that at all so I had to take care of things. I felt bad because his body was so broken. He didn't look like himself. I never want to see another dead body, or look upon the faces of the people I have loved in life when they are dead. And when I die, whether I am 30 or 87, I want my casket to be closed, with my brother sitting on top, pouring the shots. People will have to file past my casket and drink a shot of vodka.

What songs would I want though? That's the tough question....

Never seen a dead human as far as I know of. Never been to a wake or funeral. My mom once thought that my brother had died in his sleep, but he was just passed out after a week-long bender.

You know how some old folks go to a zillion funerals, well my Grandmother was my babysitter, and I went to funerals as long as I can remember. I have both good and bad memories. For many families it is almost a social event, like a wedding, only less cheery. There's food and friendship and comfort. I am not saying this is bad, you all tell funny stories about the person and share good memories, and hug and comfort each other. Some relatives expect the children to come so they can all see them, not so the kids can stare at the body (by the way, as several people have pointed out already, if you haven't seen the dead outside of a funeral home, it is not the same cleaned up sterile thing, and I haven't seen nearly as bad as described here).

Now I am not advising taking the kids, and I certainly didn't take mine to a lot of them, and when I did take them, I often dropped them off with relatives in the "coffee klatch" areas, well away from the deceased.

However, death is a part of life, and learning to handle it, is important too, without exposing the kids too early to too much.

I guess they've never heard of boats in your neck of the woods. Or maybe just throw the poor ******* a friggin life preserver. Who was running that rescue operation?

The man's fit enough to swim for 16 hours, and they can't get a decent rescue together in that time? That's outrageous.


As for dead bodies, I saw my first when I was about 13, my paternal grandfather died. I had never met him. Since then I've seen far more than I like.

This thread makes me wish that bad things didn't happen ever.

Well, let's see. It took about an hour for them to send the police, who couldn't go in with boats since they would have gotten tossed against the cliff, they said. The waves were so strong, and he was so close to the cliff that the man trying to rescue him, the one hanging from the helicopter, was also beta into the face of the cliff several times, and when they were done he had to be taken into the hospital with exhaustion, and he had multiple bruises and lacerations...

It was a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. I was amazed that they could rustle up a helicopter... According to my father (ex-helicopter pilot) it was too light a model for what they needed, too easy for them to crash it and it was probably the most expensive thing the local govm't owned... Yeah, it was awful, but the way that guy kept trying was SO inspiring. I'll always remember it. We all die eventually, but hats off to him. It's like a microcosm, that day.

Flea - That story is so sad... I can't imagine how that poor guy must have felt.

Angua - Wow. Something like that would have seriously f'ckd me up for a while.

Johnny - Very sorry to hear about this.

As for me, I was young, maybe 8 or 9 and it was my great-grandmother. She died of old age. I've not seen any dead bodies that weren't at the funeral home in a casket already. Guess I've been lucky.