Body donors honoured at city service

SCOTS who have donated their bodies to medical science are to be honoured at a service in Edinburgh.

A service of thanksgiving will be held at Greyfriars Kirk in the Capital for 40 men and women who gave their bodies up in the past year to allow the next generation of doctors and surgeons to be trained.

Relatives of the deceased will join lecturers at the service, which will see the medics’ choir perform and students give recitals.

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Edinburgh University needs 40 bodies a year for teaching purposes. Donors sign a declaration of bequest before they die.

Currently, ten bodies a year are used for undergraduate teaching and 30 by the Royal College of Surgeons.

Dr Gordon Findlater, head of anatomy at Edinburgh University, said: “The service provides some closure for the families.

“It is a moving ceremony and the bodies become real people for the students.

“The good that comes from one body donation is incalculable. One body helps hundreds of students who go on to help thousands of patients.”