2-Year-Old Thai Girl Who Died Of Brain Cancer Is The Youngest Person To Be Cryogenically Frozen
Matheryn Naovaratpong, or Einz as her family call her, passed away at a young age after suffering from brain cancer. Two-year-old Einz was diagnosed with an unusual type of brain cancer in April 2014 and died in January this year before she could turn three.
BBC News reported Oct. 15 that her father initially thought of the idea of preserving Einz's brain in the belief that the young girl will live again in the future.
"The first day Einz was sick, this idea came to my mind right away that we should do something scientifically for her, as much as is humanly possible at present," said Sahatorn. "I felt a real conflict in my heart about this idea, but I also needed to hold onto it. So I explained my idea to my family."
Sahatorn and his wife Nareerat are both medical engineers. The couple believes they are giving their daughter another chance to live in the future by preserving her brain through cryonics.
"As scientists we are 100% confident this will happen one day - we just don't know when. In the past we might have thought it would take 400 to 500 years, but right now we can imagine it might be possible in just 30 years," Sahatorn added.
Reports have revealed that after the death of Einz, her brain was removed by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation and is currently preserved at -196 Celsius temperature in Arizona. Alcor is a nonprofit organization that is considered one of the world's leading cryonics group.
Daily Mail noted on Apr. 17 that Einz underwent 12 rounds of brain surgery, 20 chemotherapy treatments as well as 20 radiation therapy sessions before cancer took her away.
A medical response director from Alcor revealed that Einz's parents are hoping to come up with a treatment plan to cure the cancer that killed their daughter.
"They're hoping that by preserving the tissue cells of this particular cancer, they can come up with a better treatment plan, and may be even eventually cure it," said Aaron Drake, as forecasted by The Straits Times on Apr. 20.
"If you look at the global picture of what they're trying to accomplish, it's very altruistic," he added.
Meanwhile, Sahatorn firmly hopes his daughter's preserved brain would be adequate for her life to be rebuilt maybe not now, but in the future.
"I tell you we still feel our love for her. Although we fought to be strong, when she had passed away, we were no different from other families; we cried every day. We still need time to heal," he said.
Einz is the 134th patient of the Arizona-based provider of cryonics and is also the youngest patient as of the moment.
