“I am literally just a human. There’s a skeleton under my the same as yours…”
Winnie Harlow
Well in my garage actually. As first year Medical student, one of the items on the faculty booklist was a human half skeleton. They were easy enough to acquire, just buy one up with your textbooks from the University of Adelaide Union Bookshop. Was it an essential aid to my Medical education? Not really. I have studied a lot of anatomy and having personal access to a half skeleton never seemed to make things any easier. In fact, I barely referred to it. In 2024 the box of human remains in my garage have become a justifiable cultural embarrassment. Mine were bought in 1981, just prior to the ban on such sales in 1982, when the Human Tissues Act was amended. Skeletons such as this were usually sourced from India and their providence is unknown, but would be a minefield of legal, moral, ethical and humanitarian issues. My role in the process was to be enthusiastically naive. Recent media interest in the issue reveals that there are three legal options to deal with my half skeleton. In Australia I can surrender it to a Police Station, inform the Coroner’s Office of their existence or return them to the University of issue Anatomy department. Anecdotally, none of these organisations seem totally happy or equiped to help with this matter. #notmyfinesthour #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 