"Let conversation cease. Let laughter flee. This is the place where death delights to help the

When I was a 16 year old girl growing up in the UK, I had a very strong desire to become a Forensic Pathologist (I blame Scully!). I began my A levels in Chemistry and Biology with a view to undertaking a degree in the area.

However, I had always been torn between that path and the glamorous field of media. In the end the media won out and I switched ‘A’ level courses. However, I’ve always had this passionate interest in forensics – it’s a puzzle that needs solving. And I like to have answers to any question I ask.

To me, death is the ultimate puzzle and the human body is a constant source of fascination to me.

Due to give birth to my second child any day, I’m never failed to be amazed that given how much can go wrong with the body, that any humans are born at all! I also had a fascination with large scale disasters in particular the lessons we learn about life, the impact it has on humans involved and the logistics of an incident.

Recently I purchased a book called ‘Working Stiff’ which is a memoir of a young forensic pathologist’s “rookie season” as a NYC medical examiner.

Written by her husband, it provides a rare insight into the world of Forensic Pathology. It charts Dr. Judy Melinek two years of training, taking readers behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple - performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, counseling grieving relatives.

Dr. Melinek lays bare the truth behind the glamorized depictions of autopsy work on shows like CSI and Law & Order to reveal the secret story of the real morgue.

‘I get a kick out of these fictionalized accounts of what I do for a living. The female ME with bedroom eyes, stiletto heels, and a lot of cleavage…In real life, I visited murder scenes…for one week…I wore sensible shoes and a medical examiner windbreaker.’

(pg 108, Working Stiff, J Melinek)

The book is a mixture of high profile cases, such as 9/11 and everyday deaths either as homicides or natural incidents. There are a number of case studies discussed and the writer providers a good balance between providing the personal background of the deceased and professional investigation.

One point that stands out for me is the vital role that pathologist play in uncovering the truth about a person’s death. Take the homicide of four year old Lakaisha. Her mother had claimed she had drowned in the tub but sadly the evidence pointed to homicide and indeed it becomes apparent that Lakaisha and her siblings had suffered at the hands of child abuse for a number of years.

‘I knew that her death did not come about because her mother succumbed to a moment of awful impulse…she had waited several minutes for that bathtub to fill…then she forced the child into the water and held her down.’

(pg 145, Working Stiff, J Melinek)

One of the questions she gets asked a lot is ‘What is the worst way to die? ’. Let’s just say in her opinion it involved a young man being steamed like a lobster.

Alive.

Hard to read.

And even harder to imagine how he suffered.

At the time of the Twin Towers attack, I was working as an Entertainment and Marketing Manager at one of the oldest theme parks in the UK. I remember vividly standing in the Security Hut watching the events unfold on a small portable TV and found myself thinking immediately of the emergency services personnel who would be rushing to the scene.

With family members in the Fire Services, I knew that this would be an exceptionally difficult day for them and all first responders.

Major incidents don’t just affect those who are at the forefront, but have an impact that reverberates for years on anyone involved in any capacity in major ‘Black Swan’ events, usually for the rest of their life.

‘I saw American Airlines Flight 11 a few seconds before it hit the North Tower…The plane appeared from behind the Midtown skyscrapers, flying low.’

(pg 200, Working Stiff, J Melinek)

Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist.

‘I was one of thirty doctors who spent 8 months identifying their remains and assembling the evidence of their mass murder. The experience of cumulating the human toll of the World Trade Centre

attacks changed me forever.’

(pg 200, Working Stiff, J Melinek)

The book describes not only the human impact but the logistics of dealing with a mass casualty event.

Judy goes into detail about the work of DMORT (the Federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team), the new classification system for human remains identification and processing teams.

‘I was stunned to see six digits after classification DM01…Are we really expecting over a hundred thousand bodies?’…’No…but a hundred thousand body parts is a possibility’…DM01-000041 was a crushed head and torso. It was the first body from the World Trade Centre attack I would handle…I had never seen anything like it. The body was pulverized.’

(pg 209, Working Stiff, J Melinek)

It’s a chapter in the book which is both hard to read and yet compelling as it gives the reader yet another insight into the events that followed on that day.

For my own personal view point, I found the book to be a realistic look into the world of pathology, so much so I read it in two nights. Of course the book is graphic. Look at the subject matter. It is hard to read in places and yet strangely fascinating.

The book provides a good balance of the scientific and the personal stories behind some of the more interesting cases. Even without the inclusion of 9/11 incident, I would have purchased the book to read.

And for those two nights I lived vicariously, through Judy and her experiences, my ‘Other Universe’ life of being a Forensic Pathologist.

Additional Information:

Dr. Judy Melinek is a forensic pathologist and an associate clinical professor at UCSF Medical Center. She earned her college degree from Harvard and received her medical degree and pathology residency training at UCLA. She has worked and lived in San Francisco with her husband, T.J. Mitchell, and their children since 2004.