In a rare and powerful act, a Namibian woman has decided to donate her body to science, becoming only the second person from the country to do so. Her body will be used by the University of Namibia (UNAM) School of Medicine to train future doctors.
Her body will be used for study for two years. After that, her family can choose to collect her ashes or have them scattered in a special garden at the university.
She wrote a letter to UNAM’s Anatomy Department explaining her choice and confirmed that she had spoken to her close family, who agreed to respect her final wishes.
Even though not everyone in her family supported the idea, she remained firm. “It was not easy, and some relatives may not agree, but I want my body to help others, even after I’m gone,” she said in her letter.
She also shared with nbc News that she would rather her body be used to help educate medical students than be buried. “Why should I go lie under a sand blanket and be eaten by termites, when my body can help future doctors learn?” she said. “This is my way of giving back to Namibia.”
To make sure her choice is followed, she has updated her will.
UNAM currently has five cadavers, four of which are already in use. Three were donated from South Africa, and one came from a Namibian donor last year. According to UNAM spokesperson Simon Namesho, the university needs at least ten cadavers each year to properly train its medical students.
