On Wednesday, 10 September 2025, Southern Cryonics completed its fourth patient suspension and the third originating in Melbourne. This case was an expected emergency. The patient had been in hospital and appeared to be improving, yet there was always a real risk of a sudden relapse. In preparation, vitrification solutions and key equipment were positioned in Melbourne.
When the patient died, notification from the hospital did not arrive immediately. Hospitals are not obliged to contact us, even after repeated requests, and in this instance the next of kin was not engaged with the process. By good fortune, one of our cryonics team members was due to visit that day, learned of the death promptly, and alerted us without delay.
Because the patientโs arrangements with CryoPath were fully in place, the professional teams from Australian Blood Management and CryoPath were dispatched to Melbourne at once. The patient was taken to the local funeral home and held in a cool room until the team was ready to begin. With the expertise of Australian Blood Management, perfusion proceeded as planned. The patient was perfused with vitrification solutions at controlled concentrations and cooled to dry ice temperature in accordance with protocol.
The patient was then transported to the Southern Cryonics facility packed in dry ice. Our experienced team, led by Phil Rhodes with Joe Allen and Neil Britt, commenced scheduled cooling in the chamber at a programmed rate down to liquid nitrogen temperature. After stabilization at liquid nitrogen temperature, the patient was transferred to a dewar containing liquid nitrogen for long-term storage.
Southern Cryonics and CryoPath extend sincere thanks to Australian Blood Management, whose doctors and clinical perfusionists followed our protocols with great care. We also thank the staff of the funeral home for their continued strong assistance, and we acknowledge the exemplary work of Phil Rhodes, Joe Allen, and Neil Britt in carrying the patient safely through to liquid nitrogen temperature.
A key lesson is the need for a reliable path of notification when our organization is not the legal next of kin. Hospitals might not contact third parties, particularly if the next of kin is disinterested. Whenever possible, there should be an authorized representative who is clearly documented to receive updates from clinical staff and who will notify Southern Cryonics or CryoPath immediately.ย However, not all hospitals prioritize the notification of someone who is not the next of kin, or at least related to the patient. So this continues to be a challenge.
