A terminally ill patient who opted for assisted death has undergone cryonic preservation at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. This preservation—the first of its kind—signifies an important milestone for cryonics advocates, who argue that the right to death, paradoxically, is a potential pathway to an eternal life.
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[Norman] Hardy was diagnosed with terminal metastatic prostate cancer, and it had spread to his bones and lungs. As noted in Alcor’s case summary, his “pain had been poorly managed,” so he opted for assisted death.…
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In this case, Hardy’s choice of when to die allowed his neural tissues to be rapidly preserved following his death, or at least, preserved as well as modern cryonic technologies allow.
As it stands, no one who has opted for cryonics has ever been brought back to life, and it’s not likely to happen any time soon. Despite the limitations and tremendous uncertainties, Alcor’s customers, of which there are currently over 1,200, have been willing to pay upwards of $200,000 for a whole-body preservation and $80,000 for a head-only preservation, the latter of which was Hardy’s choice.
Read full, original post: California Man Becomes the First ‘Death With Dignity’ Patient to Undergo Cryonic Preservation
