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鈥楢 lot of people are frightened of seeing somebody dead; I find it quite peaceful鈥� 鈥� Kelly the embalmer on her rather unusual job

7 August 2018

Let’s face it: working with dead bodies every day isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But everyone isn’t Kelly.

Kelly’s an embalmer. Her job is “to preserve [a deceased person’s] body and produce a nice, life-like appearance for families to view.”

“It’s the last time they’ll see the person,” she explained. “You want them to look their best.”

Kelly’s colleague Jennifer acknowledged that the job isn’t for everyone: “You’ll know pretty quick if you’re built for this: being in the room; smelling what you do; seeing what you do.”

“A lot of people are frightened of seeing somebody dead,” Kelly continued, “whereas I find it quite peaceful.”

大象传媒 Three filmed Kelly and Jennifer at work in Glasgow:-

The women who work at preserving someone鈥檚 body when they die

Kelly and Jennifer work as embalmers in Glasgow.

Kelly chose to become an embalmer after the death of her brother-in-law

“I saw the comfort my family got from spending the last couple of days with him.

“It’s what gave me the motivation to do this job, because these are moments you don’t get back.

“I can honestly say, since I’ve done this job, that there’s not a single day that I haven’t loved being here.

“And I’m motivated because of that. I love the subject; I love talking about embalming.”

Kelly’s unusual job is important to her not just because of how much she enjoys it, but because of the perspective it gives her on life.

“I definitely have a big appreciation for what I have now. I go home and I hug my children and my husband and all my family a lot tighter because I know what can happen to people.”

Kelly, hard at work

It鈥檚 a combination of science and art: preserving the body with chemicals on the inside and applying some hair & make-up on the outside.

Others who work with the dead

The funeral director
Gemma is one of only a handful of female funeral directors in Wales (from 2015)

The undertaker
Rachael turns 16 and becomes Britain’s youngest undertaker (from 2011)

See also: Newsbeat documentary The Youngertakers on 大象传媒 iPlayer

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