A Canadian received the best in Christmas stockings – the articulated leg bones he lost in a motorcycle accident, according to a report.
Justin Fernandes, 24, from Toronto, was returning home from work in July when he lost his right leg in the terrible accident that resulted in months of painful rehabilitation, CTV News reported.
He decided to keep his member as a symbol of the difficulties he has overcome since that fateful day.
“This was basically my end,” Fernandes said to the media in a telephone interview, adding that he only recently started walking again. “This is how I wanted to suffer.”
After the accident, Fernandes posted a message on a website dedicated to taxidermy – and the Prehistoria Natural History Center in downtown Toronto responded.
“We didn’t know him when the incident happened…. but through the process we got to know each other very well and he kind of became an adoptive member of our family here at the museum, ”PNHC chief Ben Lovatt told CTV News.
The center mainly deals with animal skeletons for display and pet memorials, which often require the placement of bones again.
But Lovatt and his team decided to help Fernandes realize his dream – and for free.
“Everyone heals from a tragic incident in their own way,” Lovatt told the channel.
“And this incident was a hit and run that left him almost bleeding to death by the side of the road. He was trying to find a way to end, to feel whole again, and that was a unique way to do that, ”he added.
“We actually learned that he had contacted a taxidermy studio that budgeted $ 15,000 to make his leg. Now, for a benchmark of how much $ 15,000 should be paid in terms of bone preparation, I would charge that amount to take an entire dead whale off a beach, drop it on bones and assemble it, ”said Lovatt.
“So, yes, it was an outrageous request for so much money. So, for us, it looked like it was something we could give back, ”he explained.
Fernandes said he had to obtain a special waiver to release his own leg.
“If you can imagine that, I’m just in this hospital, I don’t even have a prosthetic leg right now, I’m just jumping, I’m stuck in bed and I’m sending 100 emails and dozens of calls all over the place,” he said.
Lovatt also had to prove to the hospital that his center could handle the delicate work.
“We presented evidence that we could handle this safely and effectively in a clean room and in terms of the problems with the ethics committee they had, we showed them the work we have done in the past,” he told CTV News.
He said they “showed them that our intention was to provide a clean and beautiful piece to help you reconnect and heal from your trauma, instead of doing a horror show”.
After receiving the green light, Fernandes had to find a funeral home to transport his leg to the PNHC – not an easy task during the coronavirus pandemic.
“They take it, it is packed, it is wrapped, it has biohazard stickers everywhere – it seems crazy,” he said.
Lovatt said he and his team removed all soft tissue from the limb and used peroxide to stabilize and lighten the bones “to ensure that the resulting final product was truly sterile and safe”.
Last week, Fernandes was able to see – and hold – his leg after months of hard work.
“This was the first time that I held my entire leg back together – it was unreal,” he said. “I have to remember that, ‘Hey, this is your leg, you walked on it.’ It’s difficult.”
Despite initial resistance from family members, who described Fernandes’ decision as “morbid”, he does not regret his choices.
“For me, to become that morbid and sad object that people would just throw away and forget, I wanted to basically transform it into art, and that’s what I see, when I see it, art. I think it’s beautiful, ”he told the outlet.
“You suffer the way you feel it is the right way to suffer. It’s your loss, ”he added. “Two months ago, I couldn’t even walk. It takes a lot of willpower, but it can be done. This is not the end. Your life is not over. “