Whenever I read the words 'cryogenically frozen', the following comes to mind:
- Austin Powers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
- Han Solo in Star Wars
- Philip J Fry in Futurama
Until now, I thought cryogenics to be the dreams of science-fiction but, in fact, the science behind the process does exist and the latest brave volunteer to undergo the freezing process, with the hope to be revived in the future, is a 14-year-old girl from Britain.
Last month, a girl suffering from cancer, known as JS (for legal reasons), was granted the right to be frozen, following a lengthy court case surrounding the moral and ethical questions of her brave decision.
According to The Telegraph, the girl's divorced parents disagreed over her wish to be frozen after her death so she wrote a letter to a High Court judge asking it to intervene in the case.
'I don't want to die but I know I am going to... I want to live longer... I want to have this chance,' she wrote.
As a result, Mr Justice Peter Jackson granted JS' right to be frozen after her death on 17 October, and her body was taken to the US to become the first British child to be cryogenically frozen.
The young girl hoped that by being frozen, she might one say be 'woken up' and cured of her rare form of cancer. 'I'm dying, but I'm going to come back again in 200 years,' she told a relative.
After being diagnosed with cancer last year, JS reportedly began researching cryonic preservation – the process of freezing a dead body with the hope to be revived in the future – but required the permission of her parents to be allowed to take part in the science.
Last month, the judge granted JS' mother sole right over the decision and said the child was a 'bright, intelligent young person' with full capacity. However, he also highlighted that his ruling did not concern cryogenic preservation itself, but the right to decide whether to take part in the process.
Despite being too ill to attend court, JS wrote to the judge to say: 'I think being cryo-preserved gives me a chance to be cured and woken up, even in hundreds of years' time. I don't want to be buried underground.
JS and her mother have also been granted an injuction against the child's father which prevents him from trying to alter arrangements concerning his daughter's body.
We hope JS' dream to be cured in the future comes true.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
