Death, which is a natural phenomenon, is what most people do not like talking about. The fact remains that it is inevitable and we all must surely answer nature’s call someday.
Though it is a disturbing reality for all of us, only very few people know what eventually happens to the body when we pass on.
Here are the things that happen once we die:
- Immediately after the heart stops beating, the body rapidly cools down until it reaches room temperature. This is known as ‘Algor Mortis’.
- Rigor Mortis: Without the heart pumping, blood coagulates (changes to a solid or semi-solid state) in the veins, arteries and capillaries, causing the entire body to stiffen. ‘Rigor Mortis’ sets in around two to six hours after death.
- Decomposition: For a few days after death, some cells (such as skin cells) are still alive. Because of this, the life bacteria starts to break down and putrefy the blood.
- Colour: First the body turns green, then purple and then eventually black.
- Smell: The putrefying body gives off a sulphurous gas with a horrific smell, similar to rotten eggs is released.
- Bloating: This gas also builds up inside the body, causing the corpse to expand, the eyes to be pushed out of their sockets and forces the tongue out of the mouth.
- Blistering: A week after death, the body’s skin will blister so much that the slightest touch will cause it to fall off.
- Finally, a month after death, a corpse’s hair and nails will fall out, and the organs will liquefy. The body then swells until it burst open, leaving nothing but the skeleton behind.
– Chika Okorie for Encomium.ng