China's first cryonics: In the four years of waiting for my wife’s resurrection, I feel old
The Paper, Senior Reporter, Ming Que, The Paper, News Reporter Zhao Zhiyuan, He Kai, Intern Chen Zhaolin
There is still a picture of Zhan Wenlian hanging on the wall, wearing a blue cheongsam with a peach blossom face.
Every time Gui Junmin walked into the house, he could feel his wife's breath.
He closed his eyes, and scenes in his head were filled with her voice and smiles.
This 53-year-old man had never thought that his wife would leave before him, and he did not expect that one day he could freeze her and wait for the new technology to "resurrect" her.
On May 8, 2017, after the 49-year-old Zhan Wenlian died of lung cancer clinically, she was given "first aid" measures, connected to a cardiopulmonary resuscitation machine, and at the same time fully cooled down to ensure cell survival... Finally, her body was frozen and her head turned Put it in a 2,000-liter liquid nitrogen tank with feet facing upwards at minus 196°C, making it the first person in China to undergo whole body cryosurgery.
Since then, Gui Junmin dreamed about his wife's "return" every day.
Gui Junmin looks at the photo of his wife. The pictures in this article are all pictures of the surging journalist Zhao Zhiyuan (except for signature)
The new technology of “suspending” the patient’s body until the medicine is developed to cure the disease and then “thawing and resurrecting”, originally appeared in science fiction, supported by the principle of freezing: the metabolism slows down as the temperature decreases. Low temperature can inhibit the life process, slow down or even stop the metabolism of organisms, and make the human body enter a state of "pseudo-death".
In 1988, a cryobiologist in the United States found a substance that could make water become glass-like harmless to cells at low temperatures, prevent the formation of "ice crystals", and provide strong support for human freezing technology.
The world's first case of human body freezing appeared in the United States in 1967. A psychology professor suffering from kidney cancer chose to freeze himself, hoping to thaw and be cured in the future.
But until 2017, 50 years later, he was not successfully resurrected.
So far, there is no resurrection precedent in the world.
In fact, this medical science and technology has been controversial because of its feasibility and its subversive nature of medical ethics——
Does it conform to the law of development of human society?
Can the resurrected people adapt to the new social life?
If it is a new body (some people only freeze their heads), is he still the same person?
If science can change the life and death of people, will there be a population explosion on the earth?
At present, human freezing is only in the process of experimental exploration.
There are four cryonics companies in the world, located in the United States, Russia, and China. Most of them are commercial activities with different charging standards.
A paper published in the Journal of Medical Ethics in 2015 showed that hundreds of people around the world have been cryopreserved, and more people are waiting to be frozen "after death."
The term of the contract signed by Gui Junmin was thirty years.
When signing the contract, the other party informed him: Although science and technology are developing, it is not certain that his wife will be resurrected in 30 years.
He and his wife had known each other when they were young, they had gone through the years of youth together, and spent the most difficult time through ups and downs, but when they were about to retire, his wife left him.
Now, four years later, after the most sorrowful injury, Gui Junmin has started a new relationship, but he believes that he is just living together, and "love" is still frozen at minus 196°C.
Gui Junmin even felt that he and his wife were not only love, but also a family relationship.
Gui Junmin said that the new partner must understand and accept his attachment to the previous relationship, "this is also a sense of responsibility." But he didn't know, 30 years later, if his wife is really resurrected, what will happen to his aging self? do.
Or, when the wife wakes up, she is no longer alive, and she is alone, how will she face the strange new era, that kind of loneliness, helplessness and fear.
"That will be her own life," said Gui Feng, the son of Gui Junmin.
Gui Junmin's family of three
[Following is Gui Junmin’s dictation:]
(One)
On December 22, 2016, his wife with advanced lung cancer had a brain metastasis from cancer cells and was sent to the emergency room for rescue.
The doctor told me that she had fluid in her brain and her entire head had been deformed.
More than 20 days later, the doctor opened her head and prepared for a brain drainage operation, and found that it was full of blood, and the "pump" ejected so high...
The operation lasted for six or seven hours. After she was pushed out, she went directly to the intensive care unit.
I saw her again, a few days later, there was no expression on her face.
I asked her if it hurts, she said it didn't hurt, it didn't hurt anywhere.
She is not in good spirits, speaks hard, and is unwilling to speak.
She likes Teresa Teng. As soon as I play Teresa Teng’s song, she sings along with it, and the lyrics are clearly remembered.
But after that, her condition did not improve, and the doctor did not have a treatment plan, mainly relying on drugs to support it.
In February 2017, after discussing with the doctor, we sent our wife to the hospice ward, hoping that her last days would be less painful.
My wife is very strong. At that time, every time my mother made a video call, she would sit up, straighten her back, and speak to the camera in a spirited manner: "Mom, I'm fine, I'm fine..." I watched My heart is particularly uncomfortable.
Later, we refused all the visits from relatives and friends.
Because the wife cares about others and loves beauty like a little girl, she doesn't want to leave a bad image on others.
My son and I, as well as several other family members, spent the last time with her.
In the last month, she basically fell asleep and rarely woke up.
But every time she wakes up, the nurse will warn us: Don't talk nonsense, she understands everything in her heart, but she can't say much.
I remember once, when I went home to cook, my son was taking care of my wife in the hospital.
After I came back, I found an extra wound on her body, which should have been accidentally scratched.
I was worried about the wound infection, so I said something to my son casually.
Unexpectedly, the wife suddenly bounced angrily: "Are you talking about my son?" I was shocked. It turned out that she could speak.
At that time, there was only our family in the dying ward.
After my wife fell asleep, I had nothing to do, so I wandered around.
One day in early March, I walked to the doctor's office and saw several books on the shelf introducing cryonics institutions.
I picked it up and looked through it. I found it very novel and magical, but I didn't think it would have anything to do with me.
A few days later, the director of the department chatted with me privately, talking about cryonics technology, and asked me if I was interested in it.
He told me that people from the freezing company would come to the hospital the next day and suggested that I meet them.
Before this, I had no idea about this technology at all.
That night, I turned on my laptop and searched for news about "cryonics", and saw the first case of freezing in China-female writer Du Hong. She was an editorial board member of "Three-body" and was sent to China after undergoing a cryo operation on her body. To the United States for separate preservation.
I didn't believe this at first. I thought it was untrue and too far away... I read all the reports and even the comments about her, and I still found it amazing.
The next day, I met with people from Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute and asked them some questions.
But I don't understand technology, and the only thing that shocks me is their thinking about death.
They said that "death" can have another form, in addition to burial, cremation... these funeral forms of the death of the human body, it can also become a "hope."
Later, I went to Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute and met with managers, technicians, and their foreign experts, and talked with them about technology, procedures, and possible accidents during the operation.
I was worried at the beginning that after she was declared dead in the legal sense, they would still open her belly or have a relatively large wound, because my daughter-in-law loves beauty.
The other party told me that there was no big wound, just insert two tubes, one in and one out, and then sew a few more stitches.
I visited Yinfeng three or four times and felt that they were very objective.
Mainly, this "hope" tempted me, and I don't want her to disappear like this.
I went back to the hospital and said to my wife: "This time you are very ill. Or I will find a place for you. You can sleep in it. We will meet again when the medical treatment can cure this kind of cancer." I told her twice before and after, and she didn't respond the first time.
The second time, I said to her, "If you want to go, grab my hand." She understood, and gently grabbed my hand.
In fact, when we were young, we talked about life and death and body donation. She also said that she would donate the body to our school for autopsy.
That time, after she grabbed my hand, I said to her: "I will call you then, don't stay awake on purpose."
Zhan Wenlian photos
(two)
In the past few years, I have turned my head and pondered slowly, then look at this matter again, and feel that it makes me look at life and understand life again.
My wife was born in 1968, a few months older than me.
We are junior high school classmates. My ancestry is Henan and her ancestry is Shandong. Our parents are cadres who aid Xinjiang. They know each other in the Production and Construction Corps.
At that time, she was a little girl, very simple, playful, carefree, like a boy, but she had a different temperament, and she was more proud.
There are many people working in her family, and the conditions are better than ours.
Gui Junmin (fifth from left) and Zhan Wenlian (fourth from left) in junior high school
She often gave me things, her feelings at that time were very simple, and she didn't think about the future.
Later, I was admitted to high school and admitted to a university in Shanghai.
She went to a vocational high school and did not graduate, so she followed her parents back to her hometown of Shandong.
After she went back, we corresponded every week, telling each other about each other's situation.
One day when I was in my sophomore year, I suddenly received a letter saying that her parents were killed in a car accident.
I worried about her. I took a 17-hour train ride from Shanghai to Jinan, then transferred to the small county where she was.
It was the winter of 1988. Jinan's old railway station was still a German-style building, and it was known as the largest railway station in Asia, but the road in the small county where she lived was bumpy.
She was already working at that time, working in a bank in the county seat, and earning tens of yuan a month. The two younger sisters and one younger brother depended on her to support her.
Before graduating from university, she came to Shanghai to see me several times, and my teachers and classmates liked her very much.
She was worried that I would not go back with her after graduation, and even secretly applied for a marriage certificate.
At that time, college graduates were allocated packages, and many of my classmates entered university jobs.
Carrying my own files, I came to this small county in the north.
At first, I was somewhat disappointed, but I never regretted it.
We relied on our own efforts step by step, from the county seat to Jinan, and finally settled here.
His wife has always been in good health and almost never gets sick.
She often practices yoga, jogging, and can easily do 50 push-ups.
She participates in the unit's sports competitions every year and wins prizes.
In the spring of 2015, she accompanied her sister to the hospital for a check-up, and by the way, she also had a medical check-up.
My sister had no problems, but she was found to have advanced lung cancer.
At the beginning, we didn't believe it. We went to many hospitals for checkups and the results were the same.
I started to worry, let her treat the illness with peace of mind and stop going to work.
But she refused to listen.
Later, the leaders of her unit advised her to recover from her illness at ease, and she took sick leave.
A screenshot of Zhan Wenlian taking a self-portrait of "Missing Story" before admission
She has always been optimistic and feels that she will get better. Sometimes she tells the nurse that she will come to the hospital as a volunteer when she gets better.
In July 2015, his wife started chemotherapy.
After that, she and my mother and sister often went out to play together. They climbed Huashan and went to see peony in Luoyang...and also went to Hangzhou for more than 20 days to play.
The wife is full of energy and can't stop. If she doesn't go to chemotherapy, she won't look like a sick person at all.
She is a very nervous person, but she is very considerate of others.
She is full of other people: what my son likes, what I like, what my mother likes... She never thought about herself, never said what she likes.
She got used to worrying, and even after she fell ill, she bought a drinking fountain for each of the three siblings.
During the period, we also went to Beijing and Tianjin...to a lot of hospitals, and filmed the film to foreign experts.
Every doctor said the same, except for conventional treatment, there is no better treatment, and there are doctors who estimate that she only has half a year.
But she was in good condition at that time. She went to visit the elderly in the nursing home and the children in the orphanage.
I told her not to go, she said, "It's okay, it's okay..." When she doesn't go out, she watches TV shows, or embroiders cross stitch... You see, the "paintings" hanging on the wall are all embroidered by her back then. .
Zhan Wenlian embroidery works
Later, when I went out, I worried that she had an accident at home alone, so I installed a monitor at home.
Once, I went home and asked her: "Are you active today?" "Are you active." "Did you watch TV?" "None." I retorted her, saying that she hadn't exercised and gained weight again.
She was unhappy, and later pointed the monitor at the wall and refused to let me look at it.
Since we got married, I have never cared about my home. Once the salary card was handed in, she was responsible for all kinds of things. I didn’t even know all kinds of expenses, including paying utility bills.
Once, I casually told her, do you classify insurance and passbooks at home?
When she heard that, she became unhappy, and asked me: "What's wrong, am I dying?" Actually, I don't want her to worry about it anymore.
One day in December 2016, we finished dinner outside.
After returning home, she said she had a headache. I thought she had a cold because it was windy that day.
I gave her a few cold medicines to let her rest early.
I did not expect that she had already developed drug resistance at that time.
A few days later, her legs were weak and she was staggering.
We went to the hospital, she got out of the car by herself and walked for a while, and she was too "tired" to walk.
I helped her to push her son out of the wheelchair, and she sat on it.
After I pushed her into the outpatient building, she sat in a wheelchair and took a selfie with her mobile phone.
Suddenly, she began to vomit, fainted, and tilted.
That day is December 22, 2016.
(three)
She had worked so hard for half a lifetime, and had not enjoyed a day of blessing, and suddenly got this disease.
In those days, I watched her lying on the hospital bed, day by day, becoming thinner and shrinking... I was heartbroken and didn't want her to leave like this.
If you freeze her, there is at least hope of resurrection, even if there is only a glimmer of hope...
At first, I didn't think about the cost. Later, I heard them say that the price is not cheap.
We don't have that much money, so I told them that we don't have the financial means to do it, so we won't do it.
At that time, no one in China had done whole body freezing. If my wife did it, she would be the first person in China to do cryotherapy.
I heard them say at the time, and I was worried: Is it possible that you use me as a test product!
But then I thought, if cremation, people will be completely gone.
Later, "Yinfeng" applied to the group and waived the related fees for us.
After discussing with my son, I decided to sign a contract. The only condition is that we must take a look before putting it in the freezer to ensure her physical integrity.
The other party also agreed.
"Yinfeng" was in its infancy at that time. It had signed several agreements with others before, but each time at the end, the other party repented with various excuses.
For others, the "remains" were sent to "Yinfeng" because their relatives objected, and they were eventually taken back to the funeral home.
The situation in our family is relatively simple. My son and a few wives, siblings and siblings basically support it, but the wife and eldest sister disagree. She thinks everyone is like this, "What are you doing?" I said to her, "People are already like this. , And nothing will be lost, on the contrary, there is more hope."
Later, I watched them do animal experiments and freeze them for a few hours, after which the resurrection was successful.
I think that although there is no case of cryonic resurrection in the world, it will certainly be possible with future technological development.
A few days later, I signed a contract on behalf of my wife, sent her medical records to the other party, and signed a contract myself.
Because I believe that as long as I can unfreeze and resurrect, I have a chance to meet my wife again.
My son is a tech fan, and he firmly believes in this.
At four o'clock in the morning on May 8, 2017, his wife clinically "passed away".
The "Yinfeng" team was already in the dying ward at that time.
They came over ten days ago, and they have practiced several times, because there can be no mistakes.
On the same day, the doctor announced that his wife was clinically dead, and a death report was issued. People from the hospital's legal affairs department and the Red Cross helped us through the human body donation procedure. From a legal sense, she was dead.
Then the "Yinfeng" experts immediately intervened and used the heart support system for her to ensure that her heart beats and save her "live" again.
About six or seven minutes later, their wife was taken to Yinfeng.
I have never shed tears before, and when I returned home that time, I felt very uncomfortable. I felt that she was really gone and disappeared from your life... Tears couldn't stop streaming down.
In those few days, I hardly fell asleep.
On the one hand, she felt that she had left, on the other hand, she felt that she was just asleep, and worried about the operation.
Video screenshots of frozen human body surgery process data
I don’t know how to explain this technique.
Generally speaking, death is divided into clinical death and biological death. Biological death refers to the death of all cells and the loss of all functions.
Clinical death means that your heartbeat and breathing are gone, but your brain cells are still alive, and your blood and nervous system are still alive.
Therefore, she must be alive to make the "corpse" of cryonics, including Du Hong's head. If it is completely dead, why should she cryopreserve it?
The wife’s cryosurgery was performed for 55 hours.
I waited for three days, and finally received a call. I took my son, wife and sister to see my wife for the last time: She was lying on a low-temperature bed with a thermos bag on her body, her face was peaceful, as if she was asleep.
I started to think that when the human body is cold, the skin will turn white, but it doesn't. It still has a normal skin tone. This shocked me.
About 15 seconds, she was pushed in and put into the jar.
I remember, I said to my wife and sister: "Very good." We all breathed a sigh of relief.
Video screenshot of frozen body canning data
(four)
In the beginning, I ran to Yinfeng every three to five to see.
In fact, you can't see anything, just talk to the jar, or play Teresa Teng's song to her, and chat with the staff of "Yinfeng".
I was initially worried that it would be difficult for this technology to make breakthroughs with just one of us.
But a few months later, the second case of Yinfeng appeared, followed by the third case of freezing... I felt that the resurrection was not far away.
No, I think it should be awakening, because she has been alive, our normal cells split once every 10 days; she may split once a year, or once every 10 years, but her life process has been delayed.
At the beginning, everyone didn’t know what was going on, including the people in their unit. Someone asked me: "Do you still pay the salary? Do you still pay the endowment insurance?..." He didn’t understand this. He didn’t know. "Is she still there? Is she asleep, alive, or dead?" In fact, in the legal sense, a person has died, his household registration has been cancelled, and the death certificate has been issued. Why is there such a thing?
This is a joke.
After a few days of freezing, we returned to her hometown for a funeral.
Shandong is a very traditional place. Although she frozen in the tank, she still held a ceremony, buried some clothes, things she used, etc.
At that time, my son disagreed. He felt that his mother was still alive, but just asleep, so he was unwilling to erect a tombstone.
But we must always consider others and leave relatives. They will have various opinions.
On Ching Ming Festival in 2019, we finally set up a tombstone, a two-cavity tomb in the name of our son, with the wife's name and my name on it. Her name is white and my name is red.
In fact, my mother was very opposed to it at the time. She felt that I still had to live, whether I had to consider remarrying, and it was unknown whether I would bury it together.
I am more open to this, and there is no need to worry about future things now, leave it to posterity.
In those few years, I didn't have the mind to think about (this matter), and my mental state was very bad.
I go out to work every day and go home after get off work. I don’t go to other people’s homes and hardly see any friends.
In fact, some people didn't understand it at the time, and felt that "what right do you have to decide for her?" It was all her and my mutual friends. They didn't even listen to my explanation, and just "pop" and blocked my WeChat account.
In this matter, I don't care how others comment, because it has nothing to do with them.
But these friends used to have a very good relationship with us. Because of this matter, I haven't had any contact with each other so far. I am still very sad.
After his wife was frozen, his son went to work outside.
For a period of time, I often slept alone on the sofa. After falling asleep in a daze, my mobile phone ran out the next day, and the unit leader or some old friends couldn’t make calls. They were worried about what happened to me and drove to the house. Smash the door open for fear that I might have an accident.
Once, my mobile phone was charged in the living room, and I fell asleep in the house. Suddenly, there was a gout attack. I couldn't move, I couldn't get out of bed, and I lay down for a few days.
Later, I couldn't help but crawled over to get the mobile phone and called the little sister.
She was very worried. She came with her nephew and filled my bed with food and drink.
They all persuaded me that after so long, I should let go, but every time I close my eyes, every scene is clearly in front of me.
Sometimes, I want to forget too, but I just can’t forget it. It’s already engraved in my mind. How can I forget it?
Gui Junmin
Later, several big brothers in the unit saw that I was not in good spirits and took me to the gym of the school to work out.
In the past, I always felt that I was still young and did nothing worse than others.
Seeing young people running and jumping, I also went running and jumping, only to find that my hands and feet did not listen.
I go to play table tennis, but my hands and eyes don’t work together.
Once, a few of our friends were playing basketball together. As soon as I ran there, I fell down with a snap.
I feel that I am old.
Gui Junmin washes clothes
Last June, a student of mine introduced me to a partner, and she came to take care of my life after a while.
She is very diligent and okay, and we are still in the running-in stage recently.
My son has been out of town all year round and has no time and energy to take care of me.
I talked about it with him, and he supported me very much.
Because life still has to go on, I don't want to cause trouble to my children.
In the future, I may get married again, but the other party must understand me and accept my attachment to the last relationship.
Gui Junmin eats with his niece (first from left) and girlfriend (second from left)
When I was taking care of my wife, I saw many patients, many lives and deaths. I was actually not so afraid of death. What I fear most is half-dead. I want to die. I want to live and live. This is too painful.
One day or two days, you may still be able to bear it, one year or two years, you can hardly bear it, and feel that there is no dignity to live.
To be honest, I am getting older now, and I still have to find someone to help and take care of each other, but I am also very conflicted in my heart, and I dare not imagine what the future will be like.
The contract we signed with Yinfeng is 30 years. After 30 years, if the technology is reached and the lung cancer can be cured, my wife will be resurrected.
If the technology is not up to date, the visa can be renewed, but in this way, I may not see her in my life.
I am 53 years old this year, 30 years later, if I were still alive, I would be more than 80 years old.
Of course, after I leave, or after freezing, there is still a son.
But the most frightening thing is that the son may not see her resurrected.
I don't dare to think about it now, if she is resurrected after decades or hundreds of years, how she will live in this world, there is no precedent for the whole earth.
Of course, it is also possible that it cannot be resurrected and can only be cremated again.
Gui Junmin looked at Zhan Wenlian's photo
(Guifeng is a pseudonym)