A 53-year-old Dutchman, Leo Bonten, suffered a severe accident earlier this year that left him with a broken leg, which unfortunately did not heal as expected. When it came apparent that the leg could not be saved and that he was going to require an amputation, Bonten decided that he wanted to keep the leg to turn it into a lamp to help him deal with his loss. Nothing to see here, people grieve in different ways.
At first, the Rotterdam hospital that was treating Bonten was justifiably skeptical, as there is a huge grey area in the Netherlands as to who technically owns a patient’s amputated body parts. But eventually the hospital conceded and Bonten got his leg lamp.
Just now hitting Western media, here’s the translated story that appeared in News.de earlier this month:
The doctors were convinced by the plan of the 53 -year-olds not immediately, but eventually consented. Bonten wanted to do with his leg a floor lamp for the living room. He was supported by a well-known Dutch lamp maker who designed the brilliant piece of furniture.
The lamp consists mainly of aluminum and steel and has a 1.40 meter high water tank. It floats the severed body part in a preservative fluid so that Bonten can also enjoy a long time. And who knows, maybe he inherited his lamp also times to his offspring [sic]. They will then certainly be pleased!
I can think of a few words that would cross my mind on receiving a lamp containing the severed body part of a relative, but “pleased” is not one of them. My dad has a prosthetic eye, and you know what, I’m totally cool with him being buried with it someday. Anyway, unfortunately while there’s no images of the completed lamp, here’s Bonten being released from the hospital with his, uh, leg. You can view the rest of the gnarly photos of his surgery, pre and post amputation, here via Facebook.
(Source: 24Oranges)