WARNING: This article contains some graphic content about death.
Russell Davison appeared on Wednesday’s This Morning to talk about his decision to sleep next to his late wife’s dead body for six days.
Russell’s wife Wendy was diagnosed with terminal cancer and wanted to die at home alongside her family.
But after Wendy sadly passed away Russell decided to keep her body in their home for almost a week.
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Speaking to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield Russell admitted that keeping his wife’s body eased the pain of her passing for him and their four sons.
He said: “It seemed so normal for us, it didn’t seem weird or unusual – it just seemed totally natural.”
Russell told the hosts that he wants to convince others that staying close to a love one’s dead body is nothing to be scared of.
He said: “Wendy wanted to die at home. We cared, for us that was important to us.”
He went on to explain: “It wasn’t until we’d been sitting with Wendy for a few days that we started to realise the real impact of this.
“Me and my four boys realised we were being healed and helped so much.”
Russell went on to explain about how he washed his wife’s body and laid her in her coffin.
He said: “I washed Wendy’s body. We then put her in a lovely little cotton dress and then laid her out in her coffin.
“Before that I had put some padded pants on her. The practicalities, in case there were any leaks, because I had heard you can get some leaks but she didn’t get anything like that.
“The body didn’t deteriorate and there were no smells.”
His story divided This Morning fans, with some saying it was a “beautiful” thing to do while others weren’t keen on the unusual decision.
One wrote: “Stayed with his wife for 6 days after she died. Hearing him talk about it was beyond beautiful. What a great love they shared. #ThisMorning.”
“This man clearly found some comfort doing this, some people may disagree, but that’s not their problem! #ThisMorning,” another said.
A third wrote: “Listen… It sounds incredibly strange but it’s also amazingly beautiful to me. #ThisMorning.”
Meanwhile others didn’t seem keen on the idea.
One said: “He came across very well and you could see he loved her very much, however I don’t think it’s something I could do #thismorning.”
Another wrote: “Sorry but a 6 day old dead body must start to smell and decompose….wouldn’t want 2 see my loved ones or them see me like that #ThisMorning.”
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Another said: “Oh god this is graphic now … Padded pants #ThisMorning.”