A Canadian man who had his arm amputated following complications from an injury suffered decades ago still keeps the skeletal remains of his limb after having it preserved by a taxidermist.
Mark Holmgren, 37, suffered a brachial plexus injury when he crashed his brother’s motorbike in 1999, tearing several nerves in his shoulder and rendering his right arm completely useless.
Though he had absolutely no movement in the arm, Holmgren refused to have it amputated for two decades hoping advancements in medical science would one day see the unresponsive limb revived.
This year, however, he finally relented and contacted doctors at the University of Alberta Hospital to carry out the procedure in April.
But Holmgren didn’t want to part ways with him arm forever, telling surgeons he wanted the appendage back after surgery.
Mark Holmgren, 37, suffered a brachial plexus injury when he crashed his brother’s motorbike in 1999, tearing several nerves in his shoulder and rendering his right arm completely useless
This year he finally agreed to have the limb amputated (shown in hospital left), contacting doctors at the University of Alberta Hospital to carry out the procedure in April. But Holmgren didn’t want to part ways with him arm forever, telling surgeons he wanted the appendage back after surgery (shown holding the arm right)
‘First they sent me a paper, I signed it, sent it back to [the doctor],’ Holmgren told CTV News of the unusual request. ‘He brought it into the surgery room with me and just showed me all the doctors in there and they were all like, “Yup, we know.”’
A month after the operation, Holmgren returned to the hospital to retrieve the limb that he then took home and stored in his freezer until he figured out what to do with it next.
‘I carried it out of the hospital in a garbage bag,’ recalled Holmgren. ‘I actually kept it in my freezer for about a month.’
Hoping to have the arm permanently preserved, Holmgren contacted a number of taxidermists in his local area, but the 37-year-old admits finding a business willing to clean a human arm was more difficult that he’d anticipated.
‘A couple of them told me no, like right away,’ Holmgren told CTV. ‘There was no way that they were going to touch human body parts.’
But after a several weeks of searching, Legends Taxidermy in Drayton Valley eventually agreed to carry out the unconventional request.
A month after the operation, Holmgren returned to the hospital to retrieve the limb that he then took home and stored in his freezer until he figured out what to do with it next
Opting against reconstructing the arm to be lifelike as is conventional with taxidermied animals, the taxidermist then cleaned off the bones with the help of a legion of bugs and beetles who gnawed off the flesh over a series of weeks
The bones were then cleaned and polished and Holmgren picked up his strange trophy from the store just before Christmas – just in time to show it off to his relatives
Holmgren says he plans to continue carrying around the skeletal remains of his arm to stun and intrigue more of his family members and friends in the coming months, before later retiring it for permanent display in his home
Opting against reconstructing the arm to be lifelike as is conventional with taxidermied animals, the taxidermist stripped the bones with the help of hundreds of bugs and beetles who gnawed off the flesh over a series of weeks.
The bones were then cleaned and polished and Holmgren picked up his strange trophy from the store just before Christmas – just in time to show it off to his startled relatives.
‘Some of them wanted to touch it, some of them don’t want to touch it. It’s just mixed feelings when people see it,’ he said of their reaction.
On Facebook, Legends Taxidermy celebrated Holmgren’s project as one of their ‘highlights of the year, calling it the ‘oddest’ request they’ve ever had.
Holmgren says he plans to continue carrying around the skeletal remains of his arm to stun and intrigue more of his family members and friends in the coming months, before later retiring it for permanent display in his home.
‘I’m happy I did it,’ Holmgren said on reflection. ‘It’s just not for everybody.’