It extends beyond the anatomy lab, it extends to every physician's office, clinic and hospital that we ever practice in. . . . Any procedure we perform, every diagnosis we make is all made possible by our first patient, our cadaver. In this manner, our cadaver goes on living and has an impact after death that few people have in life. Twenty minutes later, Auld entered the lab as Howard Frauwirth unhinged the doors on Table 37 for the last time. Eleven boxes, cardboard coffins, lined the wall.
Many religions stipulate that the head be the first part of the body to enter the cremation oven.
Gutierrez gently placed Thirty-Seven's head in the box. One leg at a time, Frauwirth followed suit with Thirty-Seven's bisected lower body. He then lifted in the torso. When they were finished, his false teeth were all that remained on the stainless steel bed where Thirty-Seven had lain for the previous 15 weeks. Table 37 never did figure out what to do with this constant reminder of Thirty-Seven's humanity.