Wednesday, May 04, 2005
One of my friends is a Funeral Director. Yeah, I know, but someone has to do it. Anyway, Mark (not his real name) is a great bloke and very experienced and compassionate in his job.
Mark is on a specialist list of Funeral Directors who are on call to deal with recovery of bodies in sudden accidental death in motor vehicles, aircraft etc. As part of this group, he was invited to go to Thailand and has just returned from three weeks in Phuket and other places, helping identify and prepare the remaining victims of the Tsunami. The story of his trip is grim, yet he also has many touching stories to tell.
Mark said the Thai people really went out of their way to look after him and others in the multi national group. Their work in identifying and repatriating the tragic victims allowed the authorities to speed up this difficult work. Apparently, professional counselling was available to those involved in the identification and repatriation of victims. As a stoic Brit, Mark tells me he did not avail himself of this facility; yet he also says his vivid memories will stay with him for a very long time.
Mark is on a specialist list of Funeral Directors who are on call to deal with recovery of bodies in sudden accidental death in motor vehicles, aircraft etc. As part of this group, he was invited to go to Thailand and has just returned from three weeks in Phuket and other places, helping identify and prepare the remaining victims of the Tsunami. The story of his trip is grim, yet he also has many touching stories to tell.
Mark said the Thai people really went out of their way to look after him and others in the multi national group. Their work in identifying and repatriating the tragic victims allowed the authorities to speed up this difficult work. Apparently, professional counselling was available to those involved in the identification and repatriation of victims. As a stoic Brit, Mark tells me he did not avail himself of this facility; yet he also says his vivid memories will stay with him for a very long time.
