Alan Sinclair is signed up to a scheme in the US that aims to give patients a chance of life after clinical death (Picture: James Clarke/Getty)
A pensioner who turned 85 today hopes to outlive his grandchildren with a place in cryogenic storage at a US facility.
Alan Sinclair plans to go into deep freeze in a tank at the Cryonics Institute (CI) in Michigan after his clinical death.
He is signed up to an expanding scheme where patients from around the world are ‘suspended’ in liquid nitrogen at -196C.
If the grandfather’s ‘best bet’ on the cryopreservation method pays off, he may one day live beyond the youngest generations of his family — none of whom is signed up to the £22,990 scheme.
‘It’s just another birthday, I’d prefer not to be 85 but I can’t alter that,’ he said. ‘Coming out of suspension at 185 or 1085 is a good idea but like anyone else going into suspension, there is no guarantee.
‘For me, it’s the only possible chance you’ve got of coming back, as I quite like life and you are not going to come back if you are eaten by worms. There’s even less chance if you are burnt.
‘Being frozen with the hope that science will some day allow you to be woken up is the best bet.’
Alan Sinclair with his birthday wishes of which there will be no shortage in the future if his plans work out (Picture: James Clarke)
Mr Sinclair, who enjoyed a birthday meal at a British restaurant with his second wife Janet, has four children and six grandchildren.
If he is reawakened in the future through technology that remains a distant prospect, it conjures the prospect that he could meet later generations of his family. The retired mechanic and electrician is also looking forward to finishing restoring his Austin 7 Ulster vintage racing car, which he suspects might be more than a lifetime’s work.
‘If I do come out of suspension I look forward to more than likely finishing my car off and going for a drive,’ he said. ‘I quite like life and I’m certainly not fed up with living at the moment. It would just be about carrying on with life and continuing doing the things I enjoy doing now.
The allure of a second life in the future has led more than 2,000 people to sign up with the Cryonics Institute (Picture: Cryonics Institute)
‘It would be nice to meet future generations of the family, I suppose it would be the same as it is now and I would give them money and take them out for meals. It would be very exciting, I would love to meet my great-grandmother now but obviously it’s not possible.
‘It’s always nice to meet family, whenever it happens.’
Critics view cryonics as fanciful pseudoscience, with Dr Miriam Stoppard saying it ‘robs the dying of their dignity’.
Although strides are being made in technologies such as artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, the reawakening of the brain and other organs after the body shuts down remains a far leap.
Alan Sinclair enjoys life and believes that signing up for another chance in the future is worth the gamble (Picture: James Clarke)
Nevertheless, the not-for-profit CI has expanded to two sites due to the demand to preserve bodies, body tissue and pets.
Of 2,153 CI members around the world, 126 who are either ‘in suspension’ or interested in undergoing the process are British.
Those in storage include Alan’s first wife, Sylvia, who went into deep freeze in May 2013 after her clinical death from cancer.
‘Providing she doesn’t wake up and says “put me straight back to sleep”, it would be nice to see her again,’ he said.
A model gives an insight into how human bodies are stored in tanks cooled to sub-zero temperatures (Picture: Cryonics Institute)
Alan, from Peacehaven, East Sussex, founded a British support group, Cryonics UK, for people wanting a second life after watching a TV show about the process in the 1980s.
He remains a member of the group, which helps with the complicated logistics of cooling and freezing bodies before flying them to the facilities in Michigan.
Alan Sinclair looks a picture of health as he turns 85 at his home in Peacehaven, East Sussex (Picture: James Clarke)
The cryostat tanks in Michigan where Alan plans to go into deep freeze after his legal death (Picture: Cryonics Institute)
The future-proofer remains a firm believer in the ability of science to make radical advances, even if he is now the only person in his family signed up for the service, as second wife Janet is not keen.
‘When you’re young you don’t really think about these things,’ he said.
‘It wasn’t a priority for me until I found out about cryonics when I was about 40 and to me, that was the answer.’
Alan expects that science, even if it doesn’t work wonders in his case, will eventually prolong life by decades.
‘I expect within the next 20 years lifespan will be extended by another 20 to 30 years,’ he said. ‘Age is only governed by the speed the body deteriorates, and science is already slowing this down. At the speed at which science moves on, it can be used to overcome these things.’
Alan Sinclair at home in front of family mementoes that may one day be long-treasured heirlooms in his keep (Picture: James Clarke)
The prospect of ‘reanimation’ at some point after being frozen in a cryostat cylinder will need radical advances in science — along with cures for the medical conditions behind many of the patients’ deaths.
Alan, however, believes the scheme he has paid $28,000 (£22,990) for is worth the gamble of being reawakened for a second life.
‘It would be like being reborn again,’ he said. ‘I would carry on life and finish off the car I started when I was here the first time. It’s a little race car and I would like to get inside and go for a drive. It’s the small things from day to day life that I would like to continue to enjoy.’