- When I die, this body is going straight to science.
It's not going in a casket.
It's not going to a crematorium.
I'm going to donate it right to a medical school.
Why?
- My name is Peggy Reilly.
I'm 65 years old.
- This is my mother.
And the story starts with her.
She traveled all around the world,
raised three awesome kids, and is generally amazing.
But then something happened.
- I had a stroke
on March 23rd,
2012.
- [Kevin Reilly] The stroke was caused by a blood vessel
bursting in her brain.
It changed everything.
- I miss working properly,
taking care of my husband and my children.
I miss that.
And driving, and ...
taking care of the dogs, and cleaning the house.
And walking.
I miss all that.
- A few years after the stroke,
she told me she wanted to donate her body to science.
And my reaction was, "Why?"
- Because its expensive to have a funeral.
But I'd like them to learn from my body,
so that they can use everything from my whole entire body,
and the bones and everything.
- Funerals are expensive.
According to the National Funeral Directors Association
the median price is about $7,300.
And a cremation is only about a thousand dollars cheaper.
This is a funeral pricing checklist
from the Federal Trade Commission.
Basic service for the funeral director and staff,
pickup of body, embalming, other preparation of body,
casket, funeral memorial service, graveside service,
including staff and equipment, hearse.
This is ridiculous.
I don't want to put my loved ones through that.
So this got me thinking that, like my mom,
I should use what I have to help people once I'm dead.
So I went to find out how I can donate my body.
This is Jo Wiederhorn.
She's the President and CEO
of the Associated Medical Schools of New York.
That's the group that makes sure
body donation programs in New York are legit.
- So the process is really very easy.
First of all, when you decide
that that's what you want to do,
you should contact the medical school
that you want to donate to.
And I would say that you should donate to a medical school.
They are licensed; they go through
a rigorous process to become licensed.
- [Kevin] Medical schools seem like an obvious choice,
but there's a darker reasoning behind this.
- Revealing new details about a case of human body parts
sold on the black market.
- A private company was selling body parts
from bodies that had been donated?
- There's a whole cottage industry of "body brokers".
- Some U.S. companies are making a fortune
by selling human bodies that were donated to science.
A Reuters investigation revealed that this
often unregulated business is worth millions
and rarely guarantees that your body
is going to be used for what you hope for.
Really, if you want to ensure that your body
is going to go for educational purposes,
because that's what most people want to do.
They want to be able to help train
the next era of physicians.
So, the best place to do that is to a medical school.
Every single one of our,
we have 16 medical schools in New York.
Every single one of them has a donor program.
- [Kevin] Dr. Jeffrey Laitman is the Director
of Anatomy and Functional Morphology
at the Icahn School of Madison at Mount Sinai.
This is where my body will wind up.
But I needed to know why these schools
really wanted my body.
- The laying on of hands is a sacred trust,
a very, very special thing to do.
That process begins in the first day of an anatomy class.
It's a very difficult thing for a student to do.
In our culture, we refer to the cadaver
as one's first patient.
- [Kevin] But with all the advances in technology, from VR
to animatronics, why do they need to use real bodies?
- Everything up to this point is very conceptual:
PowerPoint slides, drawings in books.
And this is the first time you see a tangible representation
of humanity and how we're going to treat them.
- [Kevin] The students dissect cadavers
in their first anatomy classes, practicing on human bodies
before they ever step into a surgery room.
And even experienced doctors continue to use cadavers.
- Other things can be helpful.
And you can learn from models and computer programs
and all sorts of wonderful adjuncts.
But the key of medicine as long as you'll be treating
real people is gonna be learning from real people.
- The body is not just a box that has organs in it.
Everything's not always in the same place.
Within the course we have oral exams
in which the teaching assistants will come around
and ask us questions about all of the different structures
that we should have dissected or learned the names of.
And my first oral exam, I was so nervous.
But I felt calmer than expected,
and I realized at the end of the test
that I had actually been holding my cadaver's hand,
which was somewhat horrifying but strangely comforting.
- [Kevin] And if you're wondering what happens
to the cadavers once they're done with them ...
- And when the course is over,
the remains are then either cremated or buried,
depending upon the wishes of the deceased.
- Each year, many of the schools
hold special ceremonies honoring the donors.
Here at the University of Buffalo, friends and family
were invited to join the students and doctors.
That's right, I get a service, burial or cremation,
and I'm helping to train doctors.
Cost?
Zero.
It's covered by the school.
Now, to be clear, donating your body to science
is different from being an organ donor on your license.
With whole-body donation, the organs are kept intact.
Students need all the parts to learn about the whole body.
So the only thing left to do is mail out the form,
because when I go, this is going to science.
If you want to find out more about whole-body donation,
call your local medical school.
Or use this full list of programs put together
by the Anatomical Board of the State of Florida.
(bright music)