X-Message-Number: 31567
From: Mark Plus <>
Subject: Daily Mail: Please Freeze me!
Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:41:02 -0700



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1165377/Please-freeze-How-scores-middle-class-British-couples-hoping-buy-immortality-just-10-week.html


Please freeze me! How scores of middle-class British couples are hoping to buy 
immortality for just L10 a week

By Brooke Nolan and Kathryn Knight
Last updated at 8:02 PM on 27th March 2009


It sounds like the loopiest science fiction, but - like Simon Cowell - scores of
middle-class couples are paying L10 a week for their bodies to be frozen when 
they die. So can you really buy immortality for the price of a pizza?


When Adele Cosgrove Bray decided to share her hopes for the future with her 
husband, it was not quite the reaction she was looking for. 'I'd never seen 
anyone laugh so much,' she reflects ruefully. 'It took me a good 15 minutes to 
convince him I was serious.'


In fairness to her husband, Richard, these weren't your bog-standard dreams of a
move to the country or a home in the sun. Adele's plans are far more long-term 
than that. Permanent, if you like.


As she puts it: 'I told Richard that I wanted to be frozen when I died, with a 
view to eventually being brought back to life to experience the future.'
Cryogenics


Science fiction... or progress? More and more people are having their bodies 
frozen in the hope they can be resurrected once research catches up


Little wonder he was taken aback. But then he's far from the only spouse having 
to confront such bizarre plans. Once the premise of creaky science-fiction 
plots, in recent years the cryonics movement, in which people have their bodies 
frozen in the hope they can be resurrected when science catches up, has gathered
pace.


The Americans, unsurprisingly, have been doing it for years, setting up the 
first 'storage facility' for frozen corpses in the Seventies. Over here, the 
notion has taken a bit longer to catch on, but while no British firm offers the 
technology to store bodies, a growing number of Britons have made arrangements 
to be flown to the U.S. when they die to await the next leg of their eternal 
journey.


Among them is music mogul Simon Cowell, who last month announced his wish to be 
frozen, perhaps with a view to returning and conducting X-Factor auditions into 
eternity.


Still, with a multi-million-pound fortune at his disposal he can easily afford 
it. But people less well-off can take out life insurance which pays out to the 
Cryonics Institute - an organisation which stores bodies - rather than to a 
loved one. It means putting a down payment on the afterlife does not have to 
come at a premium. Adele's policy, for example, costs just L10 a month - 
'cheaper than a pizza', as she brightly puts it.


Quite what they are signing up for still makes for mind-boggling reading. The 
process involves cooling, and then maintaining, a dead body in liquid nitrogen 
in the hope future scientific procedures will be able to revive the corpse and 
restore it to youth and good health.


It all sounds a bit terrifying, not to mention slightly gruesome - although not 
to Adele. As a full-time science-fiction writer, she has long dabbled in the 
boundaries of human possibility, and believes it to be no more sinister than any
other life-saving medical procedure.


'I remember going to the cinema when I was 15 and watching the film Alien with 
friends,' she recalls. 'It was the first time that I had really given science 
fiction any thought. Now, as a sci-fi writer, being so immersed in the industry 
has made me realise science is moving at such a rate that almost anything will 
be possible in the future.'


Research for her latest novel led to her discovering cryonics last year, as she 
surfed the web for inspiration. 


'As I read into it I immediately knew that it was for me - the eternal quest for
immortality and the possibility of being brought back to life to experience the
future was just too much to resist,' she says. 'Perhaps I'd even get a chance 
to witness some of the things I wrote about in my stories? I decided I wanted to
do it and told Richard my plans over dinner that night.'


As we have seen, her 41-year-old artist husband of 12 years wasn't quite so 
thrilled by the notion - but undeterred, Adele ploughed on in her quest, taking 
up her life insurance policy and starting her 'suspension contract' paperwork 
with the Cryonics Institute.


When she dies her body will be transferred to her local undertaker in the 
Wirral, with strict instructions as to what needs to be done.


'They don't need to freeze you, just keep your body cool,' she says as though 
she were reading from a Delia Smith cookery book. 'Richard finds the whole idea 
laughable, although he is supporting me, but I honestly believe that one day 
science will reach the stage where I can be unfrozen,' she maintains.


'Look at cloning. Everyone said that that would never be possible and yet 
scientists achieved it. There is no way to be certain but I'm fully open to the 
idea that science will eventually work out a way to bring those of us that have 
been frozen back to life - be it in 50 years or 500 - and even if they don't, I 
will never know anyway, so in my eyes I really have nothing to lose.'


At least Karen Marshall knows her fiance is in her corner on the issue. Mark 
Walker, 47, is a cryonics old-hand, having signed up with the Cryonics Institute
in Michigan nine years ago.


Today, he is one of the founders of Cryonics UK, a British support group for 
those interested in the process, which also offers facilities to be temporarily 
'suspended' over here pending transfer across the Atlantic.


He has certainly persuaded his 38-year-old fiancee, who is in the final stages 
of sorting out her own cryonics contract. She probably didn't stand a chance, 
given they even spent their first date discussing it.


'Mark and I had worked together for a computer company in Leicester for a few 
months before we started seeing each other romantically. During our first date 
we chatted about everything from work to the weather,' she recalls.


'Then talk turned to hobbies, and as I wittered on about my love of football and
motorsports I noticed Mark was starting to look a little bit edgy. I must admit
I started to get nervous and was imagining all sorts. I honestly thought he was
about to tell me he liked dressing in women's clothing. Instead, he told me 
about his interest in cryonics.'


Some might have preferred cross-dressing to a desire to be suspended in liquid 
nitrogen, but Karen wasn't put off. 


'It actually wasn't half as scary as the other possibilities I had been 
imagining,' she says. 'And after that, I didn't really think about it again - we
continued dating and then, about six months into our relationship, Mark asked 
if I wanted to go along to one of the quarterly Cryonics UK meetings in 
Brighton.


'I agreed, although I had no idea what to expect and was fully prepared to be a 
bit bored for the day.'


Instead, she found a number of 'normal' like-minded people - and the more she 
discussed things with them the more she was won over.


'I've always been scared of dying - it's not a pleasant concept. But I realised 
that cryonics offers a real chance to live on in the future, and let's face it, 
the possibilities of being burned or buried underground with worms are not 
attractive alternatives.


'The way I see it, science is moving at such a rate that the seemingly 
unachievable is being achieved every day.'


Unlike Adele and Richard, who have no children, Karen and Mark have got another 
factor to bring into the equation - two, to be precise. Their sons, Harrison, 
aged three, and one-year-old Lorcan. They are too young to understand their 
parents' unorthodox plans, but the time will come when they must be told.


'We know families that have signed up their children already, but Mark and I 
have decided to wait until they are old enough to make up their own minds,' 
Karen says.


'We'd probably broach the subject when they're about 12, so that they are aware 
of the possibility, but we would never pressure them - they would be free to 
make up their own minds.
David Styles and Ellen Clarke


Cold comfort: Ellen Clarke only discovered her boyfriend David Styles wanted to 
be 'frozen' after his death when she asked about the silver bracelet he wore


'I would want them to know that it is what we want, and ensure that they 
understand the actions that would need to be taken if Mark or I died. I've heard
through support groups about children who ignored their parents' wishes over 
cryonics, and I wouldn't want that to happen to us.'


What Karen and Mark want is for their 'suspension' state to be activated as 
quickly as possible.


'When people ask me what I would need to do if Mark drops dead, I usually say 
that we have to grab all the frozen peas out the freezer and cover his head to 
start the process. It's always a giggle when they don't know if I'm being 
serious,' she says.


'Many of our friends think we're crazy, and I know Mark's parents think that 
they let him watch too much Star Trek as a kid,' Karen admits. 'I've told my 
parents, too, but I'm not sure if they grasp the concept. But it's the same as 
anything else - you explain your wishes to your nearest and dearest and even if 
they don't agree, they respect your decision and honour your plans.'


For twenty-somethings Ellen Clark and David Styles, however, you'd imagine 
thoughts of death are a long way off. Far from it.


David, 24, has been a fully paid-up member of the cryonics gang since 2006, and 
his 20-year-old fiancee is waiting for her own 'suspension contract' to be 
finalised.


The couple, both care workers who share a home in Macclesfield, Cheshire, met on
a school trip to Rome before getting together when Ellen was 17. By then, David
had already been contemplating immortality, having extensively researched the 
concept of cryogenics. He kept his plans to himself and Ellen discovered them 
during a night snuggled up on the sofa about 18 months ago.


'I noticed for the first time that he was wearing a silver bracelet,' she 
recalls. 'When I asked about it, he told me that it told people what to do when 
he died. It was then that he explained about cryonics and his wish to be frozen 
when he passed away.'


Ellen admits her first reaction was to laugh. But it quickly became clear David 
was not joking.


'After the initial surprise, I had no doubt in my mind that he was serious. Most
people would have been shocked, but David had always been quirky. It was what 
attracted me to him in the first place.


'The next day, he handed me a computer disk with all the information about the 
process and I was really taken aback at what I saw. Being frozen wasn't just a 
myth any more, it was really possible and with a specialist life insurance 
policy it wasn't beyond my reach financially.'


Ellen was immediately taken by the idea. 'I thought "why not?" Some people may 
think that it's a bit morbid, but to me the alternatives when you die are a lot 
scarier.


'I know it's not a certainty that I will be brought back to life, but to me it's
just the natural progression of science; it is certainly not out of the realms 
of possibility.


'Plus, I was completely in love with David, and we were planning our wedding. 
What could be a better way to say "I do"?'


In fact, David and Ellen have already decided to change their wedding vows at 
their nuptials in two years' time to reflect their long-term plans. Instead of 
'till death do us part', they are having 'as long as life and love endure'.


'Of course, some people don't take it seriously,' she says. 'My family, like 
many people whom I have spoken to since, have been a bit sceptical, but they 
understand that it's my wish.


'Most people you ask love the idea of immortality, but many don't realise that 
it could actually be achievable. I love knowing that I really could be with 
David for ever.


'We've both always had a passion for travel and exploration and the lure of 
being able to explore more of the world with David in another life was too much 
to resist.'
Richard and Adele Cosgrove Bray


Taken aback! Richard Cosgrove Bray laughed when his wife Adele told him she 
wants to be preserved. Adele, who is a science fiction writer, believes 
crygenics are no more sinister than any other life-saving medical procedure

Back in the Wirral, Adele remains equally excited, for different reasons.


'I'm really curious about seeing what the future may hold. And although 
technology will no doubt be radically different, I'm not scared in any way - a 
human will always be there to control the on-off switch,' she says. 'I imagine 
that I'll be of as much interest to the new world as it will be to me. After 
all, I'll be a living, breathing, walking and talking piece of history.'


Here in the present, Adele's husband has yet to be tempted by the concept. As he
says: 'Who would want to see this body again?'


Richard seems unlikely to relent either and, in a more prosaic approach to 
death, has decided to donate his body to medical science.


'Adele and I have always had radically different views on what to do when we 
die. To me, once you're dead you're dead,' he says.


'And I do sometimes worry about Adele's choice. I think that if they ever do 
work out a way to bring them back, they will be like a zoo animal, too much of a
curiosity to live a normal life. But I love her more than anything and if this 
is what she wants then I'll support her all the way.'


Many questions, too, remain unanswered. Even if the science existed to 
'unfreeze' patients and bring them back to life, quite what happens next remains
a puzzle. Will their old physical ailments have been cured? Will they be frozen
at the same age for ever?


And how would they cope without their family and friends - unless, that is, they
have been frozen en masse?


'That does concern me,' Adele admits. 'I worry about not remembering much of my 
previous life or not having Richard or my family around me. The impact is 
something I definitely want to minimise, so I have been keeping journals and 
photographs to be stored with me in my cryo-chamber.


'I'm sure there will be the inevitable culture shock, but to me there is no 
negative side big enough to outweigh the positive - the eternal quest for 
immortality.'


Not to mention turning on the television 200 years from now to find Simon 
Cowell, back presiding over those X-Factor auditions. 



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