A husband has spoken of how he kept his wife's dead body in their 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.
According to the Derby Telegraph ,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 stopped
eating on April 10. She stopped drinking on April 15 and was sedated
from then on.
She did have moments of communication near the end - enough to tell Mr Davison she loved him and that she was no longer in pain.
"That meant the world to me at that moment," he said.
"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.
"I
was sure this would be a comfort to us all but again I am truly amazed
about has happened; having Wendy's body at home and being able to sit
with her all day, have her friends and family come to sit with her, chat
with her, chat about her and light candles and incense on her alter
proved to be such a beautiful and comforting experience for me, the boys
and all that are taking part.
At least one of us sat with Wendy until Thursday morning. This was
important to us as our belief is that the spirit can sometimes take a
while to transcend and having the body in familiar surroundings with
familiar people helps reassure the spirit about what is happening and
what needs to happen.
"The impact of having Wendy's body lying in
rest in our bedroom with family and friends coming to pay their respects
and sit and vigil with her was really quite astonishing.
"The
comfort me and boys and their partners have had from being with family
and friends at Wendy's dead body's side has been huge.
"I would
describe the process as like an emotional decompression chamber,
allowing us to start to come to terms with our loss while Wendy is still
with us.
A senior pilot has been suspended after he was pictured sleeping on board a plane he should have been flying.
