Frilly hat
Many moons ago I thought that it might be a good idea to train as a nurse. It wasn't, but of course I saw some colourful things while I was working in the hospital. Having miraculously completed my Elderly Care placement without seeing a single stiffy, I started my stint on the obstetrics (pregnant ladies) unit.
One hung-over morning, after a breakfast of coffee and fags, I stumbled merrily into the sluice room to see a surreal spectacle. A photographer stood grasping his camera and watching in disbelief as a nurse positioned the fat purple body of a baby on the floor. This baby had died inside its poor mother days before being extracted from her abdomen in an emergency procedure. The mother's immune system had reacted against the internal corpse and its skin was peeling and blistered and had the colours of rotting plums. Sad and horrible in itself, but it was the unit's policy to photograph all dead babies, in case the parents asked for a copy at some point in the future. For the hellish photo shoot, the little cadaver had been dressed in a frilly white gown and a tiny doily of a hat, adding just enough bizarre humour to sharpen the horror. The nurse and the vacant photographer were discussing how to keep the baby's blackened mouth closed long enough for the grotesque picture to be taken. [Shudder]
(835Rocks, Thu 28 Feb 2008, 11:22, Reply)