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   Author  Topic: Nearly Headless Ted  (Read 1058 times)
Hermit
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Nearly Headless Ted
« on: 2003-08-15 00:15:53 »
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Head Separated from Body of Ted Williams

Source: Yahoo! News
Authors: Not Credited
Dated: 2003-08-14
Refer Also: FAQ: Cryonics, medical or embalming technology?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of baseball legend Ted Williams is being held in a separate container than the rest of his body at an Arizona cryonics laboratory, and several samples of his DNA are missing, Sports Illustrated said in its latest issue.

Williams' head is being held in a silver can while the rest of his body is in a nine-foot-tall steel tank, according to the report on newsstands on Wednesday.

Williams' son, John Henry, had his father's body placed in cryonic suspension shortly after the Hall of Famer died on July 5, 2002. The technique cools the body to a point where physical decay essentially stops and is done in the hope that scientific advances could somehow restore the dead to life.

Sports Illustrated said its report was based on internal documents, e-mails, photographs and tape recordings from the cryonics lab, Scottsdale-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation.

Eight DNA samples of the 182 recorded by Alcor as having been taken from Williams are missing without explanation, the magazine reported.

Alcor is still owed $111,000 from the $136,000 pricetag to fly Williams' remains to Arizona and perform the procedure, the report said.

Williams, considered by many to be the best hitter in baseball history, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966.
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With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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Re:Nearly Headless Ted
« Reply #1 on: 2003-08-17 00:38:08 »
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More Bad News For Alcor

[Hermit] It seems that the modern mummification process, the crypreservation of cadavars is not going to be as successful as the time-tested Egyptian system, certainly some are saying that the system is not all it is cracked up to be. Argument may be made that Nearly Headless Ted's head was cracked before Alcor got hold of it.

Source: MSNBC
Authors: Not Credited
Dated: 2003-08-16
Noticed By: David Lucifer
Refer Also: Greatest hitter ever deserves better than this

A former executive of the cryonics company where the body of Ted Williams is being stored admits he briefly posted a photograph of the hitting legend’s severed head on his Web site this week and asked for “donations” to view it and others, the New York Daily News reported Saturday.

BUT LARRY JOHNSON, the former chief operating officer of Alcor Life Extension Foundation who blew the whistle on the company over its treatment of the Hall of Famer’s remains, told the Daily News he did so only to draw attention to the plight of Williams’ remains and to help pay his mounting legal bills.

“In retrospect, I regret putting the pictures on the Web site,” Johnson told the Daily News on Friday. “There was a series of photos, but only one was of Ted and that wasn’t identified. It was a mistake. But at the time, I wanted to educate the public as to what goes on at Alcor and what Ted went through, and I was hoping to get some donations to help me out.”

Johnson disclosed details of the state of Williams’ body in a Sports Illustrated article this week. Johnson said Williams’ head was removed after his death and placed in a nitrogen cylinder. Johnson told the newspaper he came forward because of the horrific conditions in which Williams’ body is stored and the unethical practices of Alcor.

Johnson also told the Daily News he is cooperating with authorities who are investigating Alcor and has received death threats since the Sports Illustrated article appeared.

“Ever since this broke I’ve had to move from my home,” Johnson told the newspaper. “They (Alcor) let everyone know where I live and now I’m getting death threats. So I’m doing my Saddam Hussein routine, moving from place to place.”

Johnson told the Daily News he could have sold his story, and the photos, to a number of publications but instead chose to disclose his information to SI because it is a “reputable magazine that has a national circulation that could get the story out there. I got nothing for it.”

The controversy over Williams’ remains began after his death in July 2002, when his son, John Henry Williams placed Williams’ body in the Alcor facility against his half-sister’s wishes.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Johnson talked of company officials who suggested, perhaps jokingly, that they would ship the body to his son if he didn’t pay what he owes.

“One director said that if John Henry didn’t pay, they should ship the body in a cardboard box to him, then to Bobbi-Jo [Williams Ferrell],” Johnson said.

Johnson said Williams still owes the foundation $111,000, and that the entire preservation process costs $136,000, the New York Times said.

On Wednesday, an Alcor director disputed claims by Johnson that some of the baseball legend’s DNA is missing and that his remains have been treated poorly.

Johnson told Sports Illustrated that Williams’ body was decapitated by surgeons in a procedure called neuroseparation, and both parts were suspended in liquid nitrogen.

The article, which was on newsstands Wednesday, also said Williams’ head was shaved, drilled with holes and accidentally cracked 10 times.

Alcor won’t confirm that it is preserving Williams’ body, but that was revealed in court documents when his oldest daughter challenged the decision to take his body to the company.

Paula Lemler, the wife of Alcor President Jerry Lemler, said Wednesday her husband is undergoing chemotherapy treatment and could not comment, but she said Alcor doesn’t take DNA or blood samples.

“If there’s something we don’t store and don’t keep, there’s no way we can lose it,” added Carlos Mondragon, an Alcor director.

Mondragon noted that decapitation and shaving can be parts of the normal preservation process used by the company, and that the process normally causes microscopic cracks. He said that drilling holes in a head that is being preserved is also normal, but that it would be limited to one or two holes.

“We’re disputing that any patient was negligently handled,” Mondragon said.

Mondragon described Johnson as a disgruntled employee.

Cheryl Spain, a spokeswoman for Sports Illustrated, said the magazine stood by its story.

The article — based on internal documents, e-mails, photographs and tape recordings supplied by Johnson — was another twist in the strange saga that began after Williams died July 5, 2002, and his body was taken by private jet to Alcor, in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale.

His son John Henry and daughter Claudia maintained they signed a handwritten pact with their father in 2000 agreeing that their bodies would be frozen.

On Wednesday, investigators in Florida were examining whether the note was forged, and if so, whether a crime was committed, said Ric Ridgway, chief assistant state attorney in Ocala, Fla.

Daughter Bobby-Jo Ferrell fought bitterly to recover the frozen body, saying Williams wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread in the ocean near Key West, Fla. She claimed that her brother planned to sell their father’s DNA.

The cryonics procedure cost $136,000, according to Sports Illustrated, which said Alcor claims it is still owed $111,000.

Buzz Hamon, a former director of the Ted Williams Museum in Hernando, Fla., has asked Arizona’s attorney general to investigate Alcor and the condition of Williams’ body.

Dianna Jennings, a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney general, said the office cannot comment on ongoing investigations.
« Last Edit: 2003-08-17 00:47:40 by Hermit » Report to moderator   Logged

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
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