Latest news with #SouthernCryonics
ABC News
15-07-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Melbourne woman's body the second to be cryogenically frozen by Southern Cryonics
In a nondescript facility near Holbrook in New South Wales, a woman's body has been cryogenically frozen in the hope that science will one day revive her. Her body is one of two that now lie inside the Southern Cryonics facility, suspended in liquid nitrogen at around -200 degrees Celsius. On July 4, the Melbourne woman died in hospital from chronic illness. Within minutes, Southern Cryonics staff waiting in Melbourne initiated the "cooling process", packing her body in iced water for transport to a funeral home. There, equipped with 250 kilograms of specialist tools, chemicals and cooling agents, a doctor and two clinical perfusionists from a company called Australian Blood Management began a further cooling process lasting six hours. The woman's body was then encased in its final resting place — a cryogenic chamber filled with liquid nitrogen at Holbrook. So far, more than 600 people around the world have undergone the radical procedure. Cryonics is high on spectacle, but critically short on scientific support. RMIT cell and tissue cryopreservation expert Saffron Bryant said despite the excitement surrounding cryonics, the science was far from catching up. Dr Bryant said the challenge was in the freezing process itself because when water inside cells turned to ice it expanded and caused damage. To mitigate that damage, scientists use cryoprotective agents — special chemicals that reduce ice formation — but it is a different story for whole organs. "Organs are made up of lots of different types of cells," Dr Bryant. "They're different sizes and they have different shapes, behave differently, and need different cryoprotectants, so you can't cryopreserve them all in the same way." She pointed out that if the technology had been perfected, we would already be using it to solve real-world problems like the organ donor shortage. Many cryonics enthusiasts were inspired by Robert Ettinger, an American academic known as the "father of cryonics". His 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality, he proposed that death might one day be reversible. It is the same book that former marketing specialist Peter Tsolakides — now the founder of Southern Cryonics — read as a teenager. Two years ago, 35 founding members invested between $50,000 and $70,000 each to establish the facility. Today, Southern Cryonics has 32 active "subscribers" who pay an annual fee of $350, and have signed up for the suspension procedure costing about $170,000. Members sign an agreement that details the terms and conditions of their cryonic suspension. They are also encouraged to sign a religious objection to autopsy form, which requests that an autopsy is not carried out to "avoid destructive procedures and consequent delays" in the suspension process. Southern Cryonics is equipped to hold up to 40 bodies. "We have members ranging from about 15 years old up to about 95, and we range from doctors to bus drivers," Mr Tsolakides said. "Most of the people want to live very long lives, not necessarily be immortal. "They're also interested in seeing what the future is". There are no specific laws relating to cryonics in Australia. Legally, a cryogenically frozen body is considered the same as the remains of any other dead person, and Southern Cryonics is classified as a cemetery on its Greater Hume Council development application. There are operational risks to be considered by those who wish to be frozen. However, Mr Tsolakides said the facility was relatively protected. He said the cryogenic chambers relied on top-ups of liquid nitrogen that arrived periodically by truck from multiple suppliers. The chambers each hold a two-month supply of liquid nitrogen, and a maintenance person checks the levels a few times a week. The suspension agreement, which clients must sign, specifies that in events such as deregistration, insolvency, or cryonic suspension or revival becoming illegal, Southern Cryonics may cease the suspension, and "dispose of the patient's body by burial, cremation or transfer of the body to a responsible person." Health experts have previously raised ethical concerns about the cryonics sector, describing it as "Star Trek in play". However, Mr Tsolakides said he hoped that, given enough time, science would meet him halfway. "Let's say that it [cryonic revival] is possible but very unlikely — say it's 10 per cent possible," he said. "You got 10 per cent possibility of living an extremely long life versus being buried underground or burned. Which one would you choose?"
West Australian
21-06-2025
- Science
- West Australian
Cryonics: Does it really offer the chance for humans to return from the dead?
It's the stuff of science-fiction movies: you're declared legally dead by a doctor, your body is frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen and 200 years later you're brought back to life. Could this really be possible one day? At the Southern Cryonics storage facility on the outskirts of Holbrook in NSW, Peter Tsolakides believes cryonics could be the future of humanity. Whether people get their second chance at life in 100, 200 or 2000 years is anyone's guess. But he said there have been many encouraging advancements that have made the idea less far-fetched than it once was. The business of storing bodies at low temperatures in the hope they can be thawed and brought back to life has no shortage of sceptics and critics. University of Western Australia associate professor Marcus Dabner, a medical doctor and specialist in pathology, said the science remained unproven and speculative. No one has been brought alive yet anywhere in the world — and there is no evidence it can even be done. Still, the idea has survived for decades. Last month, Australian journalist and filmmaker Clare McCann revealed she was urgently trying to raise $300,000 to cryonically preserve her 13-year-old son Atreyu's body after his tragic death. In a statement posted alongside her recent GoFundMe campaign, McCann explained her 'kind, creative and endlessly loved' son had ended his life in May 'after months of horrific bullying' at his NSW school. She had a seven-day window to carry out the preservation before the chance for a potential future revival — however remote — was lost forever. 'Please help me bring him back so he can get the treatment he needed and we can together have another chance at life,' she wrote in a heartbreaking Instagram post. Her desperate plea reflected how faith in the possibilities of cryonics is alive — and growing. There are now at least two facilities in the US, and one each in Russia, China, Australia and Europe. Last year, Southern Cryonics in Australia cryopreserved its first patient — a man in his 80s who died in a Sydney hospital. Mr Tsolakides said the not-for-profit facility started with 35 founding members when it opened its doors last year and within 18 months it had 70 people on its books, ranging from doctors to bus drivers. Roughly 80 per cent are men and 20 per cent are women, and the youngest person, who hopes to one day be cryopreserved like their parents, is aged about 14. 'They are all very optimistic about the future and want to live extremely long lives,' Mr Tsolakides explained. 'They go back, say, 100 years and compare that to what it is like now and see it has improved significantly. 'They believe that in the next 100 or 200 years when they are possibly revived it will be very exciting to be in a new world. 'The thinking is in about 200 years science will have progressed to the stage where a person can be revived and be in a youthful body, all diseases cured, and be that same person in that youthful body.' The most widely-held view of cryonics is that it is pseudo-science. The majority of scientists and medicos take a dim view of the controversial industry, and there's been much debate about its ethical implications. With a hefty price tag of between $150,000 and $200,000 to undergo cryonic suspension in Australia, not including what it may cost for revival in the future, many critics point out that cryonics sells nothing more than false hope. That vulnerable people, consumed by grief, will be taken advantage of as they consider going to go any length for a chance to be reunited with the person they love. Clive Coen, a professor of neuroscience at King's College London, told The Guardian in 2016 that a high court decision which allowed a dying 14-year-old girl to have her body frozen could have the 'unintended consequence … that a lot of people are going to think this is worth a punt'. 'Ethically it's very complicated,' he said. Mr Tsolakides said while the industry is unregulated in Australia and not subject to any special laws, Southern Cryonics would never promise potential clients they would be restored in full health, or at all, in the future. And, it says it only caters to clients who've had a long-term interest in cryonics. 'We have fairly strict conditions around who we tend to take,' said Mr Tsolakides, who has degrees in science and business administration. 'All of our members have some interest in science technology and we tend to take people who have shown interest in cryonics in the past. 'We tend not to take somebody whose child, mother, father died and they tell us they have just read about cryonics now and in a distressed state want to have them 'frozen'. 'We want people interested in cryonics and we want people to join us before they pass away.' Dr Kate Falconer, a law lecturer at the University of Queensland, recently wrote in The Conversation that the successful revival of a patient could pose a legal minefield. For starters, a dead person cannot own property, so when they die, their estate — money and material possessions — is distributed to others according to their will. Dr Falconer said that means none of the wealth or belongings they previously enjoyed will be available to them, which could lead to a world with 'cryonics refugees' — people who wake from cryopreservation in the future with no social or community ties to rely on and no funds to live off. She noted that in the US, one cryonics facility has attempted to get around this issue by encouraging patients to place their assets in a long-term trust. But Mr Tsolakides said most interested Australians plan to use their life insurance policies to pay for their preservation, and put any leftover funds into an interest-accruing account for the future, especially given the cost of revival cannot yet be known. Some plan to, and some already have, put their money into 'revival trusts', he added, so instead of passing wealth down to family members they will pass it down to their future selves. Cryonics enthusiasts, it seems, are largely driven by curiosity and optimism. They are encouraged by research that appears to show an entire organism can transcend death, pointing to cases such as when scientists cryopreserved a roundworm and returned it to full function. They cite examples including livers that were retrieved from rodents in the US and cryogenically stored for 100 days before being successfully transplanted into five rats. 'A rabbit kidney was also brought back,' Mr Tsolakides said. 'Very simple cells like sperm, embryos and a whole lot of things like that have been suspended. 'When they do reproductive technologies like IVF they suspend them in exactly the same conditions — vitrified like we do. 'We are talking very simple organisms and very small organs at this stage which are easier to suspend than bigger ones but what we are doing is projecting what the capabilities will be 200 years into the future.' Dr Dabner, who specialises in the various things that go wrong in the body to cause disease, including what happens when we die, said no proof exists that organisms with brain structures as complex as humans can successfully be restored. 'Based on our understanding of the biology around life and death, there is currently no plausible way to bring someone back to life,' he said. 'Nothing more complex than a microorganism — tardigrades and nematode worms that were accidentally frozen in ice or permafrost — have been restored. 'Mammals are hundreds of times more complicated, and our cells don't survive freezing as well as these more simple organisms, so even the basic process of storing the cells is very different to the experience with these micro-organisms. 'There is no evidence that any mammal has ever been preserved and restored, whether it was alive or dead at the time of being preserved. 'The fundamental issue in whole body cryopreservation is whether the brain and other complex organs — which have already undergone damage as part of the dying process — can be first preserved, then stored indefinitely, and then at some point in the future restored, kept alive after restoration and have the damage reversed. 'That's a lot of steps to have to try and solve in order for it to be possible. 'Even then, how much of our 'selves' — our personality, memories and emotions — is likely to be restored? 'This is something that's impossible to answer, but complex tissues like the nervous system are extremely hard to preserve, and despite huge advances in many areas of technology and our understanding of biology, the progress we've made in trying to repair critical tissues like the brain and spinal cord is still very limited. 'That's why we still don't have cures or even effective treatments for most degenerative conditions. At that rate of progress, realistically we're still most likely decades away from repairing even minor damage, and probably centuries away from being able to heal the kind of changes that happen as part of the dying process, if it is in fact possible at all.' Mr Tsolakides agreed the brain is a major stumbling block and hopes advancements in fields such as nanotechnology will help solve this. 'So many advances are going on at the moment,' he said. 'So much research is being done in ageing, brain preservation, hypothermic medicine techniques, in cloning, synthetic limbs, regenerative medicine, nanotechnology to repair cell damage and all these things are in early stages, but project them out and you are getting to a reasonable chance people can one day be revived. 'Everything we focus on (at the facility) is trying to keep that brain preserved.' To cryopreserve a person, the most important step is a process called 'vitrification', he said. This where the blood is pumped out of the body and replaced with a cryoprotectant agent to partially replace the water in the body's cells and prevent the formation of ice. He said the body of the 'patient' is then stored head-first in a dewar — a tall steel flask filled with liquid nitrogen — and maintained at a temperature of around -190C until medical science has advanced sufficiently enough to rejuvenate them and cure whatever diseases led to their death. 'Let's say you were a member, our optimum case is you contact us so that we would have somebody at your hospital bed at the time you are going to pass away,' Mr Tsolakides said. 'As soon as you pass away, we start putting ice packs around you and cooling you, and this gives us about two or three hours … to take you to a funeral home where we have our team that we have outsourced of doctors and clinical perfusionists, etc, and they work on you and perfuse you with special chemicals. 'Then we cool you down in dry ice and once you are at -78C we have about two or three weeks to take you to a facility and do another process where we slowly bring you down into liquid nitrogen and we put you in in a vacuum flask full of it. 'In those conditions you can stay for hundreds of years without deterioration.' Dr Dabner said there were simply too many scientific and technical hurdles to overcome. 'It's still largely the realm of science fiction,' he said. 'Life is an extraordinarily complex process, and suspending it for any prolonged period of time requires overcoming a huge number of technical challenges. 'Reversing death is even more complex, and I suspect that will remain a limitation forever. 'There are also existing ways that people, both living and deceased, can contribute to scientific advancement or continue to do social good after someone dies, for example body bequest programs, the organ donor registry and charities — these are all ways of having some kind of legacy after death, and finding meaning for the family members and friends left behind.' Mr Tsolakides said many areas of science were sceptically viewed until they became mainstream, adding he was forking out the money to cryopreserve himself. 'One possibility is you are put in the ground and the other is you are burned, but there is now another possibility — the chance of coming back,' he said. 'I know which one I would choose.' Lifeline on 13 11 14 headspace on 1800 650 890 Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Australian actor raising money to cryogenically preserve teen son
Editor's Note: This article contains discussions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can find resources in your area on the National Crisis Line website or by calling 988. (NewsNation) — An Australian actor who lost her 13-year-old son to suicide has begun raising money to have the teen cryogenically frozen. Clare McCann, 32, of Sydney, hopes that future medical technology can bring back her son, Atreyu McCann. 7NEWS in Sydney reported that Atreyu died May 23 after what his mother described as months of incessant, violent bullying at his school in New South Wales. McCann said in an Instagram post that her son took his own life in a 'moment of unbearable pain.' Family files lawsuit against school alleging bullying led to son's suicide 'This was not his fault,' the grieving mother wrote. 'He was let down by the schooling system as he suffered horrendous amounts of bullying. Now I humbly beg of you to help me preserve his life and help me fight against this inhumane landslide of child suicides caused by unchecked bullying by schools and teachers.' McCann told 7NEWS that the students who bullied Atreyu were never properly disciplined for their behavior. She disputed Education Department claims that the school tried to intervene. The actress wrote on her GoFundMe page that she has medical records, psychologist reports and a formal PTSD diagnosis from Atreyu's doctor, along with emails 'proving (she) raised the alarm repeatedly' to school administrators, to no avail. She described her son as an 'intelligent, kind, sweet' boy who deserves a second chance if possible. 'Maybe it might not ever happen, but if there's a chance, you know, he deserves a chance,' McCann told the news station. Pope Francis says bullying at school prepares students for war, not peace Southern Cryonics, Australia's only cryogenics facility, has agreed to do what it can to offer Atreyu that second chance. 'A hundred percent we're not certain,' Southern Cryonics founder Peter Tsolakides told 7NEWS. 'No guarantees, but there's a reasonable probability.' McCann wrote earlier this week that her son's body needed to be frozen within the next seven days. 'If we miss this window, we lose the chance for any future revival that science may offer,' she wrote. 'This is about hope and justice. Refusing to let my son's story end in silence.' As of Friday, the fundraiser had raised just under $16,000 of the $300,000 goal. From deepfake nudes to incriminating audio, school bullying is going AI A New South Wales Department of Education spokesperson told NBC News the agency was devastated by Atreyu's death and that department officials and school administrators will work with authorities to determine the circumstances behind the boy's death. Australian residents who need help in a crisis can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, according to 7NEWS. For further information about depression, they can contact beyondblue on 1300224636 or talk to their GP, local health professional or someone they trust. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Actress raising $195,000 to 'cryogenically preserve' 13-year-old son's body after suicide
Australian actress Clare McCann is raising money to have her son's body cryogenically frozen after he took his own life. Atreyu, 13, was subjected to relentless bullying at school and was found dead at their home in Sydney last month, McCann revealed on Saturday. Ms McCann is now asking for help raising $300,000 to have Atreyu's body preserved so he might one day be brought back to life by scientific advances. 'As my worst nightmare has come to life my child's has been stolen,' she wrote alongside a photo of her with Atreyu at a movie premiere. 'It breaks my heart beyond what words can compare to share that in a moment of unbearable pain Atreyu took his own life. 'This was not his fault. He was let down by the schooling system as he suffered horrendous amounts of bullying.' Ms McCann explained on a GoFundMe page that there was a very small window to have her son frozen. 'We only have one chance left to cryogenically preserve his body within the next 7 days,' she wrote. 'If we miss this window, we lose the chance for any future revival that science may offer. This is about hope and justice. Refusing to let my son's story end in silence.' Cryogenic freezing, also known as cryopreservation, is the process of using extreme cold to preserve biological material, like human remains, for extended periods, with the hope of future revival. Southern Cryonics, the first cryonics facility in the Southern Hemisphere, announced it had cryogenically frozen its first person, 'Patient One', in May last year. Ms McCann said that any funds exceeding the $300,000 goal would go towards a national anti-bullying campaign, as well as legal action against the 'institutions that failed him'. 'I am a public figure with a national platform, and I will use every resource I have to make sure this never happens again, not just to my son, but to any other child failed by this system,' she said. Ms McCann revealed the bullying began in Atreyu's first week at a NSW high school and his suffering continued for two months until he was found dead at home. 'I begged for help,' Ms McCann wrote. 'I submitted complaints. I shared medical records. No one listened. 'He was just 13. He deserved a future. If the school and government had acted when I asked, he might still be alive.' Ms McCann, who is best known for her starring role in the Channel V series Blog Party, is an acclaimed journalist, filmmaker, and founder of the Sydney Women's International Film Festival. Atreyu's first day in Year 7 was February 5, according to a timeline Ms McCann has prepared to detail the bullying he experienced. Ms McCann alleges Atreyu was held underwater 'in a violent incident during a mud run' during a Year 7 camp from February 7 to 9 but no report was made to her. She further alleges Atreyu endured sexual harassment, threats and abuse throughout the camp and was not offered psychological support. Ms McCann says she was initially denied a meeting with teachers on February 13 after police advised her the matter was 'best dealt with at the school'. She says the next day she was told by a senior school figure the camp incident was 'typical peer reaction' and Atreyu received a warning. Ms McCann claims the bullying persisted with Atreyu being subjected to a racial slur during sport, and verbal taunts about his size and appearance, which relate to a congenital condition. She says in March the school was informed other students crafted a weapon to coerce Atreyu into self-harm but no action was taken. Later that month, Atreyu missed multiple days of classes 'due to stress and fear' and one day tried to call his mother in distress from school. According to Ms McCann, Atreyu had his bag stolen and faced further public abuse. Ms McCann says her son warned he would take his life on April 2 if he was forced to return to school. She claims no disciplinary action was taken after demanding the students who were bullying Atreyu being suspended or expelled. From April 6 to 10, Atreyu was afraid to go outside and on April 11 he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He eventually took his own life at home after sending a last message expressing love and an apology. The message included a red heart emoji. The NSW Department of Education said it takes allegations of bullying seriously and has strong policies in place to deal with this issue. The department and the school worked with the family to support Atreyu through his schooling. 'We are devastated to learn of the death of a student from a Sydney high school and extend our deepest sympathies to the family, friends, and community members,' NSW Deputy Secretary Public School Deborah Summerhayes said. 'The Department of Education is providing counselling and other wellbeing support to students and staff who require it.' Ms McCann claimed on her fundraising page that she had 'begged' the Department of Education and Children's Services to intervene in Ateryu's case. 'I have medical records, psychologist reports, a formal PTSD diagnosis from his doctor, and emails proving I raised the alarm repeatedly. But nothing was done. No one stepped in. And now, my beautiful boy is gone,' she wrote. Ms McCann broke the heartbreaking news of her son's death on Saturday, saying that Atreyu was 'the brightest light' in her world. 'It's with shattered hearts that we share the passing of my beautiful son, Atreyu McCann,' she wrote. 'He was the brightest light in my world - kind, creative, and endlessly loved.' 'Right now, we are grieving a loss that words can't hold. Please give us time and space as we process this unimaginable pain. 'Thank you to everyone who has supported and loved Atreyu. We'll share more when we're ready. For now, please hold him in your hearts.' Atreyu followed in Ms McCann's acting footsteps, appearing in the 2019 film Benefitted, which was directed by and also starred his mother. The burgeoning actor also picked up a role in an episode of true crime series Deadly Women. He starred in the short film Black Truck, in which he played Josiah, a young boy living with a condition that causes a total lack of colour vision. The young actor was no stranger to the stage either, having appeared in numerous productions for the Australian Theatre For Young People. Atreyu was also frequently spotted with his mother on the red carpet at various film premieres.
