Belgian woman chooses cryonic freezing over burial

The body of a 90-year-old Belgian woman who died last month has been cryonically frozen with the intention of being revived later should it ever become possible, reports VTM Nieuws.

Immediately after her death, the woman's body was treated by an undertaker from Oudenaarde. All moisture and blood was extracted from the body and replaced by a special product in order to protect each cell from the extreme cooling process. It was then wrapped up, placed in dry ice and transported to the Cryonics Institute in the US state of Michigan, where it will be stored in a large tank. The Cryonics Institute announced the arrival of the new patient on its website.

The total cost for the handling, transport, and storage of the body is about €50,000.

According to specialists, however, the practice is sheer fraud and science will never allow us to bring a frozen body back to life. "Freezing damages the cells," according to professor Wim Van de Voorde, head of the forensics department at UZ Leuven. "And there would have to be a way to protect the cells while defrosting, as well.”

“Moreover, once thawed, the body is still deceased and would somehow need to be brought back to life,” he adds.