No doubt airport officials can recount many bizarre findings in passengers’ luggage. However, Amanda Crum for WebProNews/Life reported yesterday that 18 human heads were found in cargo at the airport. Apparently human body parts are shipped across country all time. They are used for medical research.
What brings this particular shipment to the media is that there was a mix-up with the paperwork which caused a delay. The scanning procedure at O’Hare International in Chicago uncovered 18 frozen heads. The heads came from medical facility in Italy and were expected by a crematorium in Illinois.
Shipment of cadavers parts are commonplace.
Paul Dudek, director of the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois a supplier of cadavers for medical schools in the state added, “Just last week, we transported eight heads, unembalmed, to Rush University Medical Center for an ophthalmology program.”
Yahoo News reported, “His association sends about 450 whole cadavers to medical schools each year and also ships individual body parts, including about a dozen shipments of heads annually.
“The heads are used for training in fields such as dentistry, ophthalmology and neurology, where they are used for Alzheimer's research. They are also used to train plastic surgeons and by students learning to perform facial reconstructions on accident and trauma victims. Most cadavers are obtained through voluntary donation by people who designate a willingness to have their bodies benefit science upon their death, Dudek said. A much smaller proportion are the bodies of people whose families could not afford their burial and so agree to allow the state to release them for research.”
Montreal’s bizarre murder case
Though shipment for human body parts may be common practice for medical purposes, Montreal recently had a bizarre story of a Chinese student who was murdered and dismembered. This story made international news. The National Post reported that Luka Rocca Magnotta used the Canadian postal service to ship body parts across the country. Ottawa postal workers intercepted a package addressed to the Canadian Liberal Party which contained the right hand of Jun Lin. In another article published by Mail Online, hands and feet were sent to political parties and two schools. Magnotta is currently behind bars awaiting his trial.
Comments