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Originally Posted by DaddyD
I'm a caretaker for two elderly parents, and while I've discussed with them their end-of-life wishes (both are organ donors & both desire cremation) I really have no idea the steps one needs to go through once a person dies.
If they die at home (most likely scenario) who do I call first? Their primary doctor, police department, funeral home, or other agency?
They are both organ donors, but is there demand for organ donation of a 90 year old person?
If you want to donate your body to science, does this need to be arranged in advance? Lots of different organizations out there, maybe some not so reputable....any recommendations?
I read that the average funeral costs approx $10,000...to each their own but that seems absurd to me.
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I can address body donation for science; have been through this twice already (late husband and mother). The program I am a part of is educational (Wright State University in SW OH), and did require registration before death, other programs may be different.
The basics were you had to register (WSU is not currently taking new participants), and once you were a part of the program you received a laminated wallet card with your registration info and their contact info (in case of death out of state or in an accident). If notified, they would take custody of your body after death whether you could be part of the educational program or not, their committment to take your remains was not based on suitability for educational use. If you did go to a classroom, it could be out of state as there is a network of schools participating in this program; my late husband was shipped to Carbondale IL, then returned afterward. They really appreciate information on the person's medical history so the students can correlate and understand the body's condition. For those needing closure, the local university had an annual ceremony for family and friends with class respresentatives from the medical school discussing their appreciation.
I was very surprised they were able to take my late husband for educational purposes; he had a very hard last 4 years due to multiple primary cancers, surgeries, radiation, chemo, etc but they said that medical students needed to see all differing kinds of conditions.