University of Hawaii students and families pay tribute to body donors

Hundreds attended a memorial Saturday to offer a final aloha to the “silent teachers” who donated their bodies to further learning by students and researchers at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine.

The annual event, hosted by medical students, started at Farrington High School with hula, music by a string quartet and thank-yous to the families of the 180 body donors honored this year. The ceremony ended at Magic Island with a scattering of ashes.

Barbara Joan Abe, 47, said she and her mom agreed to donate the older woman’s body to JABSOM because it’s “needed.” Attending the celebration with friends, Abe said she appreciated the respect given by students to the donors and their families. Her mother died a few years ago.

“Everyone who spoke, spoke from their heart,” she said. “I cried most of the way through it … I didn’t have enough tissues.”

CADAVERS PLAY a critical role in helping medical and health-related science students study the human anatomy and are also used in research that can lead to medical discoveries that may benefit patients, according to the JABSOM website.

One first-year medical student said the memorial is a way to remember the people who contributed to their education.

“It helps remind us that behind patients, there’s people,” said Sean Saito, 23. “So just remembering the human part of medicine, just remembering the people that helped us learn.”

Sean Chun, another first-year medical student, said the ceremony allowed him and his peers to show their appreciation and gratitude to the donors and their family members.

Abe said she’s already signed up to have her body donated to JABSOM when the time comes and she carries brochures about the Willed Body program to encourage others to register as well.

Donors can sign up in advance or family members can make the decision for them after death.

“Each contributes directly to new understandings,” the JABSOM website said. “The need is great and each gift is valued and honored.”

IT IS ILLEGAL for donors to sell their bodies to educational institutions. However, JABSOM does cover the cost of transportation and cremation for bodies on Oahu, according to the website. For neighbor island donors, the school does not pay mortuary and transportation costs to Honolulu, but does pay for transport from the Honolulu airport to JABSOM and cremation.

For more information, visit jabsom.hawaii.edu/donors/willedbody/.