‘Patient One’: Details emerge about first Aussie cryogenically frozen in hopes of returning to life in the future

Details of the first Aussie to be cryogenically frozen in the hope of being revived in the future have been revealed as others sign up for the experimental procedure.

Southern Cryonics, the first cryonics facility in the Southern Hemisphere, has announced that it has cryogenically frozen its first person, named ‘Patient One’.

The Sydney man died this month in his 80s and was cryogenically frozen on May 17 at Southern Cryonics’ facility in Holbrook, a small town in NSW near the Victorian border.

Cryonics is an experimental field of research in which the bodies of the clinically dead are frozen at -196 degrees Celsius so that they can potentially be resuscitated if future medical advances permit.

The company explained it learned of the man’s “deteriorating condition” and “responded quickly” when he died at a hospital in Sydney’s inner west on May 12.

Southern Cryonics facility manager Philip Rhoades led a team of up to six members – including clinical perfusionists (medical professionals who operate heart-lung bypass machines) and a physician – through the complex, ten-hour process of preparing the body of the man in the hope that it will be brought back to life in the future.

Once the patient died, Mr Rhoades took the train to Sydney, stopping to pick up bags of ice before heading to hospital.

The man’s body was moved to the hospital’s cool room after his death certificate was submitted and then packed in ice to reduce his body temperature to six degrees Celsius.

“Patient 1 was transferred from the hospital cold room to the A. O’Hare Funeral Home [Leichhardt]wrapped in ice,” read a statement from Southern Cryonics.

“Thanks to the quick action of our team, including Phil Rhoades, Australian Blood Management (ABM), and the cooperation of hospital staff, we quickly began the suspension process.”

Doctors and perfusionists tried to pump a type of antifreeze fluid through the man’s body, which helps lower body temperature and preserve cells.

The company explained that the man’s body had been wrapped in a special type of sleeping bag and packed in dry ice before being transported to the Holbrook factory.

“The patient was safely wrapped in a special sleeping bag that remains intact in liquid nitrogen,” Southern Cyronics wrote.

“Patient 1 was then cooled to dry ice temperature and transported to our Holbrook facility.”

The team then lowered the man’s body temperature to minus 80 degrees Celsius in the facilities’ computer-controlled cooling chamber.

The body was then transferred to a Dewar, a specialized type of vacuum flask used for storing cryogens. The entire process was completed on May 17, five days after the man’s death.

The process cost the man a total of $170,000, including additional costs for medical teams that assisted in the preservation process.

Mr Rhoades explained that the facility was open to accepting bodies as of this year, but the first patient arrived quite unexpectedly.

“There were a few other people who were existing members who we thought would probably be candidates to be the first, but it turned out to be someone who was not an existing member,” Mr. Rhoades said. ABC news.

“His family called out of the blue and we had about a week to prepare and organize.”

Mr Rhoades said he lost sleep because the complex process of preparing the man’s body was “very stressful”.

“That’s what kept me up for a week because there were a number of different procedures to go through on different days, and there were a number of situations that could have gone wrong if we hadn’t prepared properly,” Mr Rhoades said. .

He added that the team had tested all cryonic equipment and was prepared, despite going through the process only on test dummies.

It comes after more Aussies signed up for the controversial practice in the hope of getting a second chance at life.

Allan and Barbara Pease, from Queensland, will be cryogenically frozen together at the Holbrook facility once they die.

The couple, experts in body language, communication and relationships and married for 35 years, said they want their love story to continue even after death.

The pair told 60 Minutes Australia that if one of them doesn’t make it, they will “pull the plug on the other.”

“They have the technology to put us in, but they haven’t figured out how to get us out yet, and there’s always a risk. But the alternative is eternal darkness,” Pease said.

“When we come back, if they find a way to unfreeze us, if one of us doesn’t do the freezing properly, one of us will pull the plug. Neither of us wants to do it alone, I don’t want to come back without her.’

Mrs Pease added: ‘I don’t want to come back without him either. We don’t think about death, we just live in the moment and enjoy every second of it.’

So far, 50 Australians from all walks of life have paid $150,000 to secure a place at Southern Cryonics.