Australia's first Cryonics patient frozen in hope of future revival

A man from Sydney has become the first in Australia to use the services of the cryonics company Southern Cryonics after his death. Representatives of the company announced that the 80-year-old, referred to as "Patient One," was successfully frozen, reports The Independent. Cryonics, still sparking much emotion and doubt, is meant to be a bridge between the current capabilities of medicine and what can be achieved in the future, offering hopes of "immortality".

"Patient One," an 80-year-old man who died at the beginning of May 2024, had already signed a contract with Southern Cryonics. He paid $170,000 to have his body frozen after his death at a temperature of -321 degrees Fahrenheit. He decided to take this step because he hoped that future medicine would allow him to be brought back to life and repair the damage in his body caused by aging and various diseases.

Immediately after his death, the patient underwent procedures to prepare his body for freezing. These procedures lasted nearly 10 hours, with the goal of securing the body and gradually introducing it to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, which is -321 degrees Fahrenheit. After the procedures were completed, the body of "Patient One" was placed in a special isothermal chamber. Here it will be stored until science and medicine reach a level that allows the man to be brought back to life. Not everyone is enthusiastic about this vision; some scientists even claim it will never be possible.

"We are pleased to announce our first successful cryonic suspension with 'Patient One'! We thank our incredible team and partners for their swift and full commitment. This is a significant milestone for Southern Cryonics," wrote the company on platform X.

Peter Tsolakides, the director of Southern Cryonics, quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald, emphasized that the company "does not provide guarantees." He added that, in his opinion, the probability of bringing people back to life in the future is estimated to be between 5 and 30 percent. He said, "It's a reasonable probability compared to the alternative—I don't think that people who are in the ground or have been cremated have any probability at all."

It is worth recalling that cryonics is not new. The first person, Prof. James Bedford, was frozen on January 12, 1967. His body is stored at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona, one of the world's first commercial centers dealing with cryonics.