Cadaver. The word is cold. It sends shivers down your spine and makes your mind conjure up morbid thoughts or images of dead bodies lying in a morgue. You think of a horror movie, maybe even skeletons. At least that's what I thought. If you're wondering what I'm going on about, well, I saw a cadaver, touched it and even did some cutting. Something I never thought I could stomach. I even managed to have lunch afterward without the thought of throwing up crossing my mind. Back to my story, the time was twelve in the afternoon on Wednesday this week. Approximately 200 of us stood outside the anatomy lab, eager to see what awaited us, knowing that this was a moment we would never forget. I wondered how I would react. Would I faint at the first sight, shed tears or run out screaming? Would I have nightmares after this and be left traumatized? There was no turning back now. The atmosphere was tense you could cut through it with a knife.Names were called and we went in and got into our respective groups. Afterward, we introduced ourselves to each other. This was an ice-breaker and from then on things began run smoothly. Then it was time to open up the cadaver. Together we pulled back the layers covering it. It was a male. I couldn't see his face though. That would make it too real. We took turns with the scapel and began to cut up 'our patient'. Despite the choking stench we kept going. Eventually it felt like I was just cutting up meat not a human body. Throughout, I wondered who he had been....someone's brother, boyfriend, son. I wondered how and why he ended up in an anatomy lab. However I appreciated the opportunity to learn from him. At the end of the session, I didn't want to leave. I had enjoyed my day. Me, stinking of Formalin, enjoying my time with a cadaver. Who would have thought.
