A woman whose mother donated her body to medical science has recalled how she “celebrated” the news that her body had been accepted for medical education. 

UCD School of Medicine has a Body Donation Programme and the university describes it as a “selfless act” that can have a “huge impact upon the life and wellbeing of others for generations to come”. 

As part of their degree, medical students need to learn about anatomy and the most effective way to do this is not with textbooks or slides on a screen, but with an actual human body. 

On Lunchtime Live, Grace Vaughan explained why her mother decided she did not want to be buried or cremated as soon as she passed away.

 “Mummy donated her body in May 2022 and her reason was that she wanted to keep working for two years after she died,” Ms Vaughan said.

“She was a nurse and she always wanted to be a doctor; was big into science but back then, they couldn’t get the education, it had to be paid for. 

“So, she went off and trained to be a nurse. 

“Then she told us about two years before that she was donating her body to science. 

“Because we’d never heard of anybody donating their body.” 

Ms Vaughan recalled that as a family they were “very happy”when they heard about their mother’s decision. 

“Mummy was a nurse through and through and that was just typical of her nature, - wanting to always give back,” she said. 

“We would never, ever have defied Mum’s wish because she felt so strongly about it.” 

The campus of University College, Dublin. Picture by: Alamy.com. 

Once a person has died, their bodies must be passed over to the university within 48 hours to ensure they are in a proper condition for students to learn from.

UCD School of Medicine provides the loved ones of those who have donated their body with a Family Room in order to say goodbye to them. 

“My uncle had a lovely phrase, ‘She’s just gone to college,’” Ms Vaughan recalled. 

“When she got accepted into UCD for body donation, she put it up on Facebook, celebrating the fact that she got into UCD.”

Main image: A body in a mortuary. Picture by: Alamy.com.