A PORTHTOWAN couple who have each paid £28,000 for their bodies to be frozen after they die held a cryogenics roadshow last Sunday for people in the area interested in being frozen instead of buried or cremated.
Chrissie and John de Rivaz hope scientific advances will allow them not only to be unfrozen and revived in the decades following their deaths but also that whatever killed them will be curable.
Around 20 people from all over the country who are already committed to being cryogenically frozen travelled to the couple's home on Sunday, with the aim of forming a standby team.
Chrissie, aged 61, and John, aged 57, have signed up with the Cryonics Institute in America where they will be shipped after they are cooled.
They hope to set up an emergency team in Cornwall which will be on hand to perform vital functions in the event of a member's death.
Chrissie explained: "As there is no facility in this country, the bodies have to be shipped to Detroit to be frozen. Therefore, we need to begin the cooling process as soon as possible after the body dies - this is what the standby team will do. You can't just put a body in the freezer, it will crack and the cells will explode.
"We have a group among our members but living in remote Cornwall, as we do, we have a bit of a problem and this is something that we have been trying to sort out. There is an ongoing need to keep everyone informed. Our group usually meet on the internet to exchange ideas, but it's good to meet face to face."
At the moment, cryogenic science does not stretch to unfreezing people who have been suspended in this way. But Chrissie hopes medical science will not only advance enough for her to be revived, but also that developments will mean a medical fix for whatever led to her death.
She said: "There is still a very long way to go. We are looking at what is developing and what is likely to happen in the future. There's an awful lot of research going on including anti-ageing research. Undoubtedly one day people will be able to have hugely longer lifespans."
"It costs about £28,000 but, having said that, a funeral costs a lot of money and what does that achieve?"
Instead of a funeral for their parents, Chrissie and John's three children have been told to have a party instead.
Anyone interested in being cryogenically frozen can call Chrissie and John on 07061 131228 for more information.