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Lost Body Parts Preserved Via Taxidermy

Tribble

Killjoy Boffin
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
2,956
20 years ago, Mark Holmgren crashed on a motorbike, tearing the nerves in his shoulder and leaving his right arm numb and unmovable. Initially, he hoped the injured arm could be fixed. As the years dragged on, however, his mind turned to other possibilities.
Just a few weeks after getting his arm medically amputated (and signing the appropriate paperwork), Holmgren was given his macabre memento in a plastic garbage bag. The next step was finding a taxidermist who was up for the challenge.


https://gizmodo.com/guy-gets-severed-arm-preserved-by-taxidermist-i-wanted-1840748758

(Now he can say he shook hands with Judge Mortis or something)
 
"after getting his arm medically amputated "
:chain:


"After getting over her initial disbelief, Swift was more than willing to lend a hand. "
:rim:
 
I hope I never need this sort of service but if I do that’s how I want it to happen. I want the skeleton part preserved and unlike this wuss I want the skin part properly taxidermed!
 
(and signing the appropriate paperwork)
195722

TAXIDERMY WORK ORDER & AGREEMENT
Does this work have a specific or guaranteed finish date or time? Print yes or no________________
Date_______________________ Shop / Taxidermist: ____________________________
Name_________________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________________
City_________________________________State/Province__________________
Zip_______________________
Hm Phone_________________________Cell__________________Work_____________
License/Game Tag NO__________________________________State/Province/Country___________
SPECIES____________________ Number of Antler Points_________________
How received? Skinned, Not Skinned, Not Fleshed or Turned, Not Salted, Cut Wrong/Short Cape, Day or more Old Frozen, Freezer Burn, Road Kill, Damaged Broken/missing parts, Rub/Drag Marks, Cuts/Nicks/Holes, Air Dried/Spots, Blood Soaked, Wet Stained, Hair Slip & loose, Questionable Skin or Cape,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MOUNTING INSTRUCTIONS ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mounting Charge _______________________
Skinning/Repair _______________________
TOTAL** _______________________
**DEPOSIT** _______________________
BALANCE DUE** _______________________ ** Crating & Shipping - other costs & fees are extra--if applicable.
There are additional fees for rocks, special forms, animal habitats and display units and Panels.
OUR AGREEMENT AND UNDERSTANDING TERMS AND DEPOSIT: All payments only in US dollars. At least a 25% deposit or more is required on all work. Certain circumstances may require some work to have the complete cost paid in advance before work will begin or before it is finished & the customer will be notified if this is required. Any balance due at completion time, must be paid in "cash". This means no checks. Customer agrees to pay the balance due & pick up the mount/work within 14 days after notification of completion. After notification of work completion, work not picked up within 14 days, along with monies paid, is forfeited. A $10.00 per day- per mount, storage fee will be charged after the 14 day grace period until the mount is disposed of and/or sold. Crating, shipping, repair, form modification to fit short capes, and the replacement of skins & capes are extra. Taxidermist and/or company will not be held responsible for theft, fire, flood, vandalism, tanning, hair slippage or any other loss or damage. The customer agrees to pay any cost or expense including any & all legal expenditures, collection enforcement costs or any other costs associated with customer's work/specimen. The decision and discretion of the taxidermist is binding and absolute and shall apply in any situation, in any disagreements or conflicts and for any fee assessment. No Cash refunds for any reason.
X__________________________________________________________________
I certify and guarantee that the specimen (s) listed above, were obtained or harvested in a legal and lawful manner and I am authorized by law, license, permit, etc. to bring such specimen (s) to the Taxidermist for mounting and other services. I have read the front and the back of this work order and agreement, and I fully understand and agree to be obligated and liable with the condition of acceptance, agreement, terms, deposit, and for any applicable fees.
 
I hope I never need this sort of service but if I do that’s how I want it to happen. I want the skeleton part preserved and unlike this wuss I want the skin part properly taxidermed!

A nice skin-bound notebook or wallet, perhaps? If it's a voluntary amputation, maybe get a great tattoo first, let it heal, then get it preserved.

"Oh, that on the shelf? Yeah, signed, leatherbound copy of a book by Gordon Rutter. What kind of leather? His own flayed, tanned skin. Signature ink's made from his blood. He really put everything into that book, I can tell you. Yeah, limited edition. Very limited edition."
 
A nice skin-bound notebook or wallet, perhaps? If it's a voluntary amputation, maybe get a great tattoo first, let it heal, then get it preserved.

"Oh, that on the shelf? Yeah, signed, leatherbound copy of a book by Gordon Rutter. What kind of leather? His own flayed, tanned skin. Signature ink's made from his blood. He really put everything into that book, I can tell you. Yeah, limited edition. Very limited edition."
Perhaps a single copy of my autobiography to be published after my death...
 
Has anyone seen a rationale given for why the arm was de-fleshed? I can think of multiple possible reasons such as:

- Holmgren's choice;
- The taxidermist's choice (possibly owing to legal issues);
- The state of the arm by the time Holmgren received it;
- The state of the arm by the time Holmgren pulled it out of the freezer;
- Legal restrictions (e.g., relating to disposition of human remains);
- etc. ...
 
Has anyone seen a rationale given for why the arm was de-fleshed? I can think of multiple possible reasons such as:

- Holmgren's choice;
- The taxidermist's choice (possibly owing to legal issues);
- The state of the arm by the time Holmgren received it;
- The state of the arm by the time Holmgren pulled it out of the freezer;
- Legal restrictions (e.g., relating to disposition of human remains);
- etc. ...

Going out on a limb here, but if he's not been able to move the arm for 20 years it'd be fairly atrophied - probably barely enough flesh on it for a single taco. Besides, defleshing and bleaching is probably a lot cheaper and easier and looks cooler hanging on the wall than a whole pickled and stuffed arm.
 
Going out on a limb here, but if he's not been able to move the arm for 20 years it'd be fairly atrophied - probably barely enough flesh on it for a single taco. ...

Good point ... That may well have been the reason (or one of the reasons).
 
"after getting his arm medically amputated "
:chain:


"After getting over her initial disbelief, Swift was more than willing to lend a hand. "
:rim:
Remember that film River's Edge with Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover and the mighty Dennis Hopper's speech when he talks about coming off his bike? .. I can't remember it word for word but it was something like " .. and I remember looking at my leg just lying there on the floor .. and there was a can of beer .. and I remember thinking, I wonder if there's any beer left in that can."
 
This young Canadian received the one Xmas gift he'd worked hardest to acquire - his own leg, lost in an accident last summer.

image.jpg
'Everyone copes differently': Man receives his own taxidermied leg just in time for Christmas

In July, then 24-year-old Justin Fernandes was walking home from work when he was struck by a motorcycle. The impact severed his right leg and sent him to the hospital and subsequently a rehabilitation facility for months.

Now, he has a Christmas gift that would make most people do a double take -- the articulated bones of his lost limb, a testament to the struggles he went through in a year unlike any other.

“This was my closure, basically,” Fernandes told CTV News.ca in a phone interview Thursday. “This is how I wanted to grieve.”

But to make his dream a reality took months of coordination, hundreds of emails, dozens of phone calls, and just little bit of internet magic.

After his accident, Fernandes posted a message on an internet page dedicated to taxidermy and made a quip about having his leg treated -- and the Prehistoria Natural History Centre (PNHC) in downtown Toronto answered.

PNHC routinely handles animal skeletons for display purposes and also have a business doing pet memorials -- which often require putting the bones back together again.

“We didn't know him when the incident happened…. but through the process we've gotten to know each other quite well and he's kind of become an adopted member of our family here at the museum,” Head Director of the PNHC Ben Lovatt told CTV News.ca in a phone interview.

While some may have balked at the idea of Fernandes’ request, Lovatt and his team embraced his vision wholeheartedly.

“Everyone heals in their own way from a tragic incident,” Lovatt said. “And this incident was a hit and run that left him almost bleeding to death at the side of the road. So he was trying to find some way to have closure, some way to kind of feel whole again, and this was a unique way to do so.”

Lovatt also provided his services for free. ...

Fernandes got to see, and hold, his leg Wednesday after months of agonizing work to make his vision a reality. ...

Despite initial pushback from his family, who felt that Fernandes’ decision was “morbid,” he doesn’t regret his choices.

“To me, turning that morbid, sad object that people would just dispose of and forget, I wanted to turn it into art basically, and that’s what I see, when I see it, art. I think it’s beautiful,” Fernandes said.

“You grieve however you feel is the right way to grieve. It’s your loss.”

Fernandes hopes his story provides other amputees inspiration on alternative ways to handle the complex emotions associated with losing a limb, and says this process has given him a way to move forward. ...

Now, Fernandes said he just needs to figure out his final problem -- where does one display their severed leg?

FULL STORY: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/every...mied-leg-just-in-time-for-christmas-1.5244685
 
A nice skin-bound notebook or wallet, perhaps? If it's a voluntary amputation, maybe get a great tattoo first, let it heal, then get it preserved.

"Oh, that on the shelf? Yeah, signed, leatherbound copy of a book by Gordon Rutter. What kind of leather? His own flayed, tanned skin. Signature ink's made from his blood. He really put everything into that book, I can tell you. Yeah, limited edition. Very limited edition."
'What an interesting bookmark.' :chuckle:
 
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