bedroom for six days.
Russell Davison says he
wanted to be in control of
what happened next when wife Wendy died of cervical cancer at 50.
So he kept her in
their Derby bedroom for
nearly a week – even
sleeping in the same room – before taking her body to the crematorium.
Now Russell wants to
convince the public that
staying close to a loved one's dead body is nothing to be
afraid of, the Derby Telegraph reports.
Wendy was diagnosed with cervical cancer not long after
their joint 40th birthday
party at Susumi in November 2006.
"From the get-go she got
straight into the driving seat and took control of her own health," Mr
Davison said.
"We were not prepared to hand her life over to doctors -
we wanted to do our own
research and do the very best job we could to keep Wendy alive. "We
have no doubt that by refusing chemotherapy
and radiotherapy and truly embracing natural health we have extended
Wendy's life by a very long time.
About three years ago, Wendy was given six months
to live. It was then that the couple
decided they needed to start living in 'The Now' and make
the very most of every
moment we had left
together. They bought a caravan and went travelling
all round Europe. "Wendy died very peacefully,
fully sedated, in no pain in
mine and Dylan's arms with our ever faithful dog Elvis smuggled up
right next to her
too.
"After a while we gently and lovingly washed Wendy's body, dressed her
and placed
her in her cocoon – a word we prefer to use instead of
coffin – and it was very
special. "She looked absolutely
beautiful, just like she always did in life: no effort, no makeup,
just radiant beauty.
"It was at that point my
heart started to break. I cannot believe how much I sobbed - it seemed
to last for
ten hours. I could not eat or even talk very much. "I was amazed at
how much came out, we had all been crying a lot over the last few
weeks but this was next
level. "Death seems to be
such a taboo subject in our society, no one seems to
want to talk about it. Wendy
and I were not like that, we
talked about it a lot." For a long time, Mr Davison
said he had been determined
to have Wendy at home
when she died.
"I did not want her in the
mortuary or handed over to a funeral director," he said. "I wanted us
to take care of
her ourselves at our family
home, and have her in our
bedroom so I could sleep in
the same room. "My nephews came to visit.
They were both a little
nervous, never having seen a
dead body before, but after while of being with us all in the room
with Wendy they said how peaceful, comforting and reassuring the
experience was.
Post a Comment