Australians sign up for potential to be brought back from the dead

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PHOTO: Ron Fielding (right) and his son Guy are both looking forward to being brought back from the dead one day. (ABC Goulburn Murray: Erin Somerville)

 

When Ron Fielding tells people he plans to be brought back to life long after he dies, he gets a few curious looks, but that is just what he has signed up for.

 

Cryonics has been a passion of Mr Fielding's for decades.

 

The 78-year-old from Goulburn in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, is a member with The Cryonics Institute in the United States.

 

He has spent years researching the process of having his body frozen, or put into a state of 'suspension' and is hoping that one day, his own frozen body will be brought back to life.

 

Mr Fielding had initially planned that at age 84 he would leave his family and move to the US to be closer to a cryonics storage facility.

 

But he is now hoping his move across the world may not need to go ahead as groundwork for the first cryonics storage facility in the southern hemisphere started this month in Holbrook, in southern NSW.

 

Mr Fielding visited the site on the weekend to take a sneak peek of the facility where he hopes to be kept in suspension and to start the long wait for science to maybe, one day, bring him back into the world of the living.

 

Hopes for the future

 

Mr Fielding said while he was used to facing scepticism about the possibility of being brought back from the dead, he remained an optimist.

 

"People might laugh, but someone had to be a pioneer," he said.

 

"They always laughed at people when they're going to do something [new], but I feel this is the start of another exploration.

 

"The way science and that are today, just ask yourself, 'why should you die?'"

 

Mr Fielding said he hoped he would not be waking up alone in the future — if he ever is brought back to life.

 

PHOTO: Work has started on the first cryonics storage facility in the southern hemisphere at Holbrook. (ABC Goulburn Murray: Erin Somerville)

 

But he should not worry too much as his son, Guy Fielding, has also signed on to be suspended.

 

Guy, who describes himself as having "an open mind", decided to be frozen after learning about the process from his father.

 

It was an exciting moment for Mr Fielding and his son to inspect the foundations of the storage facility in Holbrook this month.

 

"I'd rather Dad stayed in Australia if it's at all a possibility, rather than go to America at one the cryonics institutes in the States," Guy said.

 

"This is really exciting to keep Dad with us here in Australia.

 

"If one day we can be together again, that will be fantastic [and] if we're here in Australia, that will be a better option than being overseas."

 

How will it happen?

 

The warehouse at Holbrook will be operated by Southern Cryonics and is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

 

Zoning, location, and a reduced risk of natural disaster all helped lead to the small town becoming one of the cryonics capitals of the southern hemisphere.

 

PHOTO: Philip Rhoades will be eagerly watching the development at Holbrook. (ABC Goulburn Murray: Erin Somerville)

 

Founding memberships will be closing on March 31, this year and after that, associated members who want to be frozen will have to pay $150,000.

 

Mr Fielding and his son Guy have weighed up the financial obstacle and agree it was "an issue".

 

"Things like insurance and having something there when you pass away — usually you have some assets saved up, and that's when you make the commitment to spend," Guy said.

 

"Certainly being able to raise the funds and do it now would be difficult while you're still living but I think it's something you have in place when you do pass."

 

Freezing could become more common

 

Executive officer of the Cryonics Association of Australasia, Phil Rhoades, who joined the Fieldings on their tour of the site, is expecting cryonics to become more mainstream.

 

"I'm expecting a non-foundation member to happen relatively quickly in the next year or two," he said.

 

"I'm guessing the first person [to be frozen] is going to be a non-foundation member who is going to come out of the blue, finding out that the facility is working and wanting to take advantage of it.

 

"There's the possibility also of preserving pets, so I wouldn't be surprised if that happened sooner than a human as well."

 

Like the Fieldings, Mr Rhoades is also an optimist about what the future holds.

 

"People are starting to think that anything might be possible," he said.

 

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