Futurists Start Charity Fund To Freeze Terminally Ill Woman
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A few weeks ago, 23-year-old Kim Suozzi posted a question on Reddit about what she should do with her last months of life. Suozzi was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and she’s only expected to live for another three to six months. Some on the community board suggested she have her body cryonically frozen.
For those unfamiliar, the concept of such a freezing is to preserve the person at the moment of death, hopefully to be reawakened at some point in the future when the terminal condition can be cured. Needless to say, it’s open to debate whether such a thing could work at all. Nor is it cheap. The whole process could cost as much as $35,000.
The cryonics suggestion would likely have remained just an easily dismissed joke had her Reddit post not caught the attention of some pro-cryonics groups. After Suozzi posted her dying wishes, a futurist group called Society for Venturism set up a charity in Suozzi’s name to help fund the project. Last week, the charity brought in $27,000 in one week. Suozzi has also raised $2,100 on her own through Reddit. She’s well on her way to being cryonically preserved for the ages.
This procedure is controversial among both religious groups and scientists, and even Suozzi even admits she’s skeptical herself. As she explains, “No one knows what technology will be available in 50 years. Yes, it takes ‘faith’ in technology, but it takes faith to assume that technology won’t be sufficient to reverse these problems someday.”
The decision has also caused plenty of turmoil among her family members:
I can tell I’ve alienated them quite a bit as they are Christian and don’t see why I’d want to be preserved; in their mind, I am going to heaven and my ‘soul’ will forever leave my body when I die anyway … I clearly upset both of them with the implication that I was agnostic (I didn’t say this outright, but it’s true).
It seems a surreal way to end one’s life, but we certainly can’t begrudge her one last leap of faith. Who knows, maybe she really will close her eyes in one century and open them in another. Sure, it sounds far-fetched, but who ever said hope had to be logical?
If you’re interested in donating, Suozzi is currently taking donations.
