Morticians reveal what it’s like working with dead bodies all day every day

Morticians have given an insight into what their day-to-day job entails.

“We really get a unique perspective that the majority of the general public don’t get,” said Kate, a funeral industry operations manager.

“It’s really sobering to see people my own age pass away and then in turn makes me appreciate that I am in good health.

"While it can be a hard job at times, for many morticians it can also be super rewarding.

For funeral director Taylor, it was quite jarring when he first started the job.

“They had just brought us into the body fridge and said ’Okay, do you want to see a dead body?” he explained on a recent episode of LADbible Australia’s HINDSIGHT series.

“It took me a while to sort of stop expecting to see movement. You keep expecting to see their chest move or for them to blink.”

Casey, a funeral director’s assistant, said the grief can be so profound that she often feels like she needs to help these families.

“You’re not there to fix the problem,” she said. “You’re there to put together a really beautiful funeral for this family.”

“They just want you to do your best and put together something really really beautiful and memorable.”

For ex-mortician Monique, some of the hardest parts of her job were dealing with child deaths and suicides.

Coming from regional Australia, Monique said it’s shown her that we don’t talk about men’s mental health as much as we should.

“That’s what’s tough for me, it’s the young people who feel like they have no other option but to kill themselves.”

The morticians also shed light on the process for preparing someone for their funeral.

OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images

“If someone passes away in a car accident or horrific circumstances in Australia, it is not the paramedics that come and pick up the deceased or the police, it’s actually the funeral director,” said Kate.

“The whole process from getting the call to having them back at our facility probably takes about two hours,” added Taylor.

“Once we’re back, they get placed in our body fridge and then they go through the mortuary process where they get washed, dressed and placed into a coffin and then we get them ready for the day of their funeral.”

One of the most common questions Kate gets asked about being a mortician is about what happens to people when they are cremated.

“Everyone by law is cremated on their own,” she said.

“That process is quite strict on what that looks like, so you’re definitely getting your nanna back in that urn,” she said.

Taylor added: “People think it’s gross. A lot of the time I guess it can be, but at the end of the day you’re doing something good."

Taylor has witnessed funerals with everything from blasting music, to balloons and even drag queens.

“Lets reshape funerals,” said Monique.

“The word ‘fun’ is in funeral. No one thinks about that.”

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