A mortician has shed some light on what happens to the human body after someone dies, including why people sometimes poop themselves when they pass away and what coroners do with silicone breast implants, which 'don't decompose.'
Gerald Ledford, a medical examiner from Little Rock, Arkansas, became a viral TikTok sensation after sharing a slew of bleak details about his end of life.
He has dished on everything from why he has to 'remove men's testicles' while performing an autopsy. He has also dished on the harrowing reason why someone's hair and nails grow after they die. A mortuary man has shared a shocking picture of what happens to the human body when someone dies
Most recently, he responded to a person who asked him if breast implants are removed before someone is buried since they're made of a material that doesn't decompose naturally.
'They're yours. You bought them, and you're taking them to the grave,' he told his followers. After you decompose, the boobs will still be there; they won'tdissolve. The skin will shrink around them and eventually decompose.'
He did not specify what happens to them if the person is cremated. Many people, especially those who have received a boob job, were left stunned by the fact that their implants will be sitting in their coffins with their bones for the rest of time, and they took to the comment section to share their thoughts.
'Oh, I did not think about this when I got my implants,' one person wrote. Another said, 'I'm going to be bones and boobs, got it.' 'Walking through a cemetery, hearing a gentle thud as implants fall off,' joked someone else. 'Thank God. I paid a lot for these beauties,' read a fourth comment.
The best money I’ve ever spent... to have huge knockers on my skeleton, a different user added.
In the video, which got more than 478,000 views, Gerald also debunked the rumor that your hair and nails keep growing even after your heart stops beating.
He explained that it only appears that way because the 'embalming fluid dehydrates the skin' and makes it 'shrink.' In a separate TikTok, the coroner explained why people release fecal matter when dying.
'Sometimes when we pass away, the muscles holding in our poop relax, which means you can poop and pee in your pants,' he revealed.
It's not my favorite thing, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's totally natural. I would say about two or three cases out of 10 do it. Sometimes you hold in and I thank you; it makes my job easier.'
He also opened up about the reason why he has to remove the private parts of many of the men he performs autopsies on.
'If it's a homicide, we remove them,' he said. 'We remove them to make sure the person wasn't injured or hit there.
'We've got to make sure there was no trauma; make sure they're both there. All aspects of the autopsy report are stated, from head to toe. Sorry guys.'
It's been said that almost all organs are removed and examined during homicide autopsies, including the testicles. According to the medical examiner, he doesn't givemany details about who a person was or what they did for work when they're brought into his office.
He said he wasmostly told how they died. However, he can sometimes figure out their interests based ontheir tattoos. However, he admitted that his job can be challenging at times, so he tries to avoid learning too much about the people he's working with.
'I try not to learn names or situations or think about you when I return home, but some stick with me,' he shared. He also noted that 'child deaths' usually leave him mortified. Gerald admitted that he was terrified on his first day, but stuck it out tohelp the mourning families.
'I won't lie, I was scared. It's scary here. When I unzipped that bag, there was a 30- to 40-year-old man who died of a drug overdose," he shared. 'I was scared; I was like, This is not how it is in the movies, this is weird. How will I do this?
'But I knew I needed to be strong for the patients and the patients' families, so I could help put away the bad guy.'