I’m a 22-year-old mortician & have been embalming bodies since 16 – I love it but here’s why I lie to people about it
A 22-YEAR-OLD mortician has opened up about the realities of the job she dreamed of doing – but often keeps hidden.
Olivia has been working at A.W Lymn, a funeral director’s in Nottingham, since she was just 16 years of age.
She has many duties at the family-run business, but one of the most important is taking care of the bodies in the on-site mortuary and embalming the deceased before they are laid to rest.
At any one time, there can be up to 80 bodies in the space she works in. But Olivia faces each of her eight-hour long working days as they come.
As part of BBC show Stacey Dooley: Inside the Undertakers, cameras captured her at A.W Lymn, as she opened up on how she came to be working there.
In between washing, dressing and preserving those who had sadly passed away, Olivia told 36-year-old Stacey: “I’ve been embalming for five years – I started at Lymn’s when I was 16.”
And when Stacey pressed her on if people are shocked about a young girl working in such a profession, Olivia admitted that there have been times when she has avoided telling them altogether.
She explained: “Yeah, definitely – I get a lot of questions.
“When I go out and people ask, ‘what do you do?’ or whatever, sometimes I don’t bother to say anything because I can’t be bothered with it.”
But Olivia went on to say that she’s completely at ease with her day-to-day duties and has grown “used to it”.
She added that it was a non-stop “profess”, as she said: “Everybody sees the hearse, funeral director and some people probably don’t even realise that we’re here to a degree, and what we actually do.”
However, later on in the programme she explained that other people’s often shocked reaction doesn’t take away from what she gets out of her job.
She told Stacey that her main drive is that she’s making a real difference.
Olivia – who admitted that it can be extremely hard work – explained: “It’s just the difference that you make because seeing someone for the last time, that makes an impact on that person’s life for the rest of their life, and you don’t ever forget it.”
When grilled by former Strictly star Stacey on what she loves the most about her profession, Olivia didn’t hesitate.
It sounds a bit cliche – but it just makes you want to live your life
Olivia
“I think more than anything – and it sounds a bit cliche – but it just makes you want to live your life,” she revealed.
“You see so many young people coming through here…” she trailed off, as Olivia reiterated how the experience had made her cease the day.
And Stacey had nothing but high praise for Olivia and the work she does. She said: “There’s something quite human about it.
“And they take great care – she’s just put a comb through the hair. The respect that goes into their work is really commendable.”
Elsewhere in the programme, which can now be watched on BBC iPlayer, new mum Stacey met with other people working in the funeral home.
These included a woman who helps people plan their funerals – even if they’re alive – and a man who helps collect the bodies from the hospital.
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