A 14-year-old British teenager who died of cancer on Oct. 17 got her wish when a High Court in London approved her request to be frozen through cryogenics. Justice Peter Jackson, who was able to visit the girl known only as "JS," would not reveal other details than her request to be frozen and preserved with the hope of living again in the future once they find a cure for her illness.
According to the judge, news about her case only came out after her death for fear that the publicity would stress her out. The girl wrote, "I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they might find a cure for my cancer and wake me up. I want to have this chance. This is my wish." the girl wrote.
CNN said her request to be cryogenically preserved got the support of her mother but had been challenged by her father. Unfortunately, her parents are divorced and the last time she saw her father was in 2008.
Huffington Post said Cryogenics makes use of frost to preserve the body. Cryogenics has been performed hundreds of time since the 1960s but follows very strict procedures including the use of a registered funeral transporter as the cadaver has to be prepared within minutes after death.
Jackson, however, explained that the freezing of tissues and cells to preserve the body is known as cryopreservation, which is less extreme than cryonics. Cryonics Institute, which offers Cryogenic preservation, said people who are considered dead legally are frozen to the temperature of liquid nitrogen to stop physical decay.
Moreover, it is important to inject the cadaver with various chemicals to reduce possible brain damage and blood clotting. It is, however, illegal to do the process on people who are still alive.
The Guardian said the favorable ruling allowed her family to transport the girl's body from London to the United States where a company has preserved it for £37,000. The procedure is only offered by three facilities all over the world and two of these facilities are in the United States namely Alcor Life Extension Foundation and Cryonics Institute while the other one is located in Russia namely KrioRus.
