SECRETS OF THE DEAD
‘OH MY word, you’re a forensic pathologist? Like in CSI? That must be so interesting! But don’t you get depressed?” This is a typical reaction I get when someone meets me for the first time and finds out what I do.
I never know how best to respond. Do I try to romanticise my job and play to their fantasies? Or do I tell them the cold, hard truth?
The questions don’t stop there. People usually hang around at the cocktail party or the braai, wanting all the curious details. The first question they usually ask is, “What’s the most interesting thing you’ve seen?”
At this point I stop them and say, “I don’t find other people’s unnatural deaths interesting!” After all, each of the unnatural deaths I deal with represents a tragedy in someone’s life.
However, if you were to ask me what the most unusual or strangest thing is I’ve ever seen, I’d probably tell you the story of the giant rat.
One day, a body arrived at the mortuary. It was sealed in a metal coffin, which in turn was placed in a wooden coffin, fastened shut with steel screws. The inside of the metal coffin was filled with 100% formalin which meant
