Mike Castiglione

Touring the Franklin Institute's hit exhibit, "Body Worlds," -- the one that explores the insides of plastinated human cadavers -- one inevitably wonders, "Who in the world would sign up for this?"

Donating organs on your driver’s license is one thing. But offering up your remains for a scientist/artist to assemble them in whatever fashion he chooses, all for the viewing pleasure of thousands of strangers, is another thing.

Recently joining the list of 142 Americans who have literally signed their lives over to Body Worlds are Chrissy Jenks of Douglassville and Shawn Petri of Sanatoga.

Jenks is a 19-year-old nursing student at the University of Delaware and a graduate of Daniel Boone High School. Petri is a 31-year-old chief financial officer, a husband, and a soon-to-be father. Jenks and Petri are two of five donors from Pennsyl-vania.

"I signed up before I even went and saw the exhibit," said Jenks, who read about Body Worlds in a newspaper ad. "For me, there is no purpose for the body to be buried or cremated after death. If I am to donate my body to a place where people can learn from it, I feel I am contributing to the advancement of medicine even after I pass away. That’s what makes it rewarding for me."

Petri had been itching to see the exhibit for quite a while. Once he got the opportunity to visit Body Worlds, Petri knew he wanted to be a part of the international phenomenon.

"When it finally came around, I told my wife, ‘That’s it, we’re going,’" Petri recalled. "I was marveled by it. When I decided to be a part of it, I looked at it like I would be contributing to something bigger than me. I think that’s the approach you have to take."

The cadavers are preserved by a method called plastination, invented in 1977. Plastination halts decomposition of the body after death, replaces bodily fluids and fats with silicon, and preserves it for conceivable eternity.

More than 6,500 people across the globe have since signed on the dotted line, giving plastination inventor Gunther von Hagens the freedom to do his work once they die. Donors’ identities are concealed.

According to Petri, it took about a month from the time he initially inquired about becoming a donor to the time all the paperwork was finalized. The forms are four pages long and require two witnesses to the signing. Any donor who chooses to back out may do so at any time by signing a release and again finding two witnesses.

"No one actually sat down and explained the plastination process to me, but it is my understanding that the information is available to me at any time," Petri said. "I have all the contact numbers. But I discussed it with my wife and she supported me. The paperwork was very thorough and the whole process is done very tastefully."

Jenks, too, has the support of her mother and of her friends. When Jenks read about Body Worlds in the newspaper, she immediately went online and researched it. There, she found a link for donors.

"I signed up for it right away," Jenks said. "It was strange. It just felt right."

Jenks filled out a questionnaire that asked what, if anything, she objected to, such as being a whole-body plastinate. "I checked ‘yes’ to everything," Jenks said.

Eventually, Jenks got in touch with the folks at Body Worlds, who arranged for her to take a tour of the exhibit.

"Even as a nursing major, it was like nothing I’ve ever seen," said Jenks, recalling her fascination of a plastinated heart her physiology professor once showed her class. "I just think Dr. von Hagens is such a brilliant man. I would love to meet him some day."

Petri was also enchanted with von Hagens work, which he refers to as being "artsy, with a heavy scientific base."

"I have always had a strong interest in the meaning and purpose of the body and what happens after we die," Petri said. "The whole time I was touring the exhibit, I wondered how these people became donors. Now, I’m happy to someday be one of those people. Of course, I’ve got to change my will now."

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