The Fate of James Bedford - The Richest Man Frozen to Revive After 50 Years

Myths About James Bedford - Richest Man In The US Preserved By Freezing

Most people will choose to enjoy their last moments and then leave the world peacefully. In 1967, one of the richest people in America suffered from cancer, however, with a strong "desire to live", he spent a huge amount of money to "freeze" himself, hoping that in the future In the future, when medicine develops, he will be defrosted and cured of his incurable disease. This news shocked the whole world at that time, and he became the first "frozen person" on earth.

Now, more than 50 years have passed, will this plan be successful? Does he have a "new life"? Let’s explore who he was.

Who Was James Bedford?

James Bedford was born in 1893 into a wealthy family in Massachusetts, USA. James Bedford had a life without worrying about food and clothing since he was a child.

The first person to be cryonically preserved was James Bedford, a psych professor at the University of California. The decision to be preserved by freezing was entirely his; he even left money in his will for a steel capsule and liquid nitrogen. As a result, when he died on January 12, 1967, his family followed his wishes. It was a significant day in the cryonics community, and January 12 is still known as "Bedford Day." My favorite part of the whole thing is the title of Time magazine's article on the event: "Never Say Die."Bedford was transferred to a different tank in 1991, and everything appears to have held up so far.

How was the life of "The Frozen Man" James Bedford?

After growing up, James relied on his intelligence to start a successful business. With the help of his family, he became "the richest man in America".

James not only had a successful career but also had a happy family. He had two wives and a total of 5 children. In everyone's eyes, James was the winner. James always wanted to enjoy his old age like this, but illness suddenly struck, and fate really toyed with him.

In 1965, at the age of 72, James was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. This news was like a bolt of lightning because he had always been in quite good health and rarely got sick, but the illness was rare. Whoops, it's cancer.

James felt pain because he still had a lot of work to do, he began to look for doctors everywhere, trying to find the last hope for himself.

But James's condition became worse and worse. Faced with death, James was really scared. At this moment, a friend brought him a book titled "The Prospect of Immortality", which gave James new hope about life.

The author of this book records detailed research on human cryonics. Cryogenic technology can effectively prevent the death of human cells and allow resurrection from the dead in the future. With a strong will to survive, after reading this book, he came up with a bold idea.

From then on, James began to pay attention to the development of "cryonics technology", then he met Robert Nelson, Robert Ettinger's assistant. Nelson was very interested in "cryonics technology". .

Although Nelson was just an ordinary electrician with no educational qualifications, after reading the book "The Prospect of Immortality", he was attracted to the "cryonics technology" mentioned there, and then began conducting research and relied on his own efforts to become Robert Ettinger's assistant.

Since meeting Nelson, James shared many of his thoughts. James believed that he had to seize this opportunity, he felt that if he froze himself, when he woke up 50 years later, medicine would probably have advanced enough and his cancer could be cured. , then he can start a new life.

How much did James spend on his preservation?

In order for this research to go smoothly, James spent $4,200 to buy liquid nitrogen and a cryogenic chamber, and left most of his assets for future cryogenic maintenance and related research. .

In 1967, James left the world. When the doctor announced that James had passed away, the "freezing plan" officially began. When he was dying, James felt very calm, feeling like he was just entering a deep sleep, one day he would wake up.

After 50 years of waiting, how does this story end?

After the doctor declared James dead, the cryonics team waiting nearby began processing James' body according to the original plan.

First, they gave James a cold bath, then cooled his body and drained all his blood. Finally, a large amount of dimethyl sulfoxide (an antiseptic liquid) was injected into his body, the body temperature was lowered, and finally, James' body was wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap, placed in liquid nitrogen at subzero temperatures. 196 degrees and permanently preserved.

From then on, everyone began the waiting process.

Because it is unknown when James will be "liberated", the team carrying out this work will be "interrogated" by the outside world almost every year. James' original plan was for it to be revived in 2017 but that day never came. Because the cryonics team was unable to develop a safe and feasible defrosting plan, and James's body was moved multiple times, making defrosting even more difficult.

Experts believe that James is unlikely to see the world again. Not to mention, even with current technology, we have yet to develop effective methods to treat cancer. As for how long James will sleep forever, no one has an answer word.

READ MORE: Top 20 Most Mythical Creatures From Legends, Folklore and Fairytales

Same story in China

Since James opened the door to the "new world" of freezing technology, many people have begun to dream of their own "rebirth".

Du Hong, a science fiction novel editor in China, was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer in 2015 and died soon after.

Before Do Hong died, she read in a novel that freezing technology could cause people to regenerate. Her intuition as a science fiction novelist told her that this could be done, and she was willing to try. In her opinion, cryonics technology is similar to animals hibernating. The moment of freezing is equivalent to pressing the pause button on life, and one day, people will be "reborn".

After Do Hong passed away, Do Hong's daughter contacted a cryonics agency in the US. This cryonics agency was the same team that froze James at that time. Do Hong's daughter spent 120,000 USD to invite them to freeze her mother in the hope that one day her mother could be "reborn". Do Hong also became the first person to be frozen in China, her story was also discussed for a long time.

READ MORE: Ben Affleck: The Man, the Myth, the Pro-Gambler?

Can humans really be "reborn"?

People are starting to wonder whether this freezing technology is reliable or not? Can humans really be "reborn"? What impact will it have on our future development?

Coincidentally, two years later, a woman from Shandong also underwent the same freezing process. Because his wife was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, her husband was very sad. Later, her husband accidentally learned about freezing technology. He felt that this might be the only chance to save his wife, so he asked her if she wanted to freeze her whole body after death.

Because she initially wanted to donate her body after death, she immediately agreed. Immediately afterward, her husband contacted the cryonics research agency and made advance preparations for the freezing work.

When the hospital announced her death, the freezing team quickly helped her have his whole body cryopreserved.

The entire surgery was very complicated and took a long time. Her husband spent more than 600,000 yuan, because he wanted his wife to be able to live again, he was willing to give it away. all.

This woman’s story once again sparked heated discussions among people, all of whom thought that freezing technology could only prevent the human body from being damaged, so how could it be guaranteed? that these frozen people can be revived?

And even if one day they could actually wake up, how would the problems of moral concepts be resolved?

Conclusion

Perhaps everyone wants to live forever, but this is always a difficult problem that humans cannot achieve.

James's experience is the starting point for humanity's journey to discover "immortality", which also means that in the near future, humanity may change its attitude towards life and death.

And in terms of current technology, there is still a long way to go to realize this freezing technology.

But it is because humans have the courage to explore, experiment and make mistakes that we will be able to achieve major technological breakthroughs and who knows, this frozen technology may become a reality in the future. near future.

However, we cannot be blindly optimistic about technology, we need to have rational thinking, we cannot deny or pursue it blindly.

If one day freezing technology is proven to be feasible, it means that the laws of birth, aging, illness, and death that have existed for tens of thousands of years for humans will be broken, then the world will be very prosperous. could be a different story.

It is necessary to know that the meaning of life does not lie in its length but in the way we live it!

Top 10 Richest Kids in the US 2024 By Families or Successful Career Kids can earn lots of money thanks to their talent. Many famous kids in the US earn money from their early age by many different ...

The Five Richest Families in the World of Modern Time We are inundated with daily updated rankings of the world's wealthiest people, which have become too familiar and boring. However, the global ranking of the ...

Top 10 Richest Gamblers In The World By Net Worth Who is the richest gambler in the world? How much does he/she own? Check out Top 10 Richest Gamblers In The World By Net Worth.