My Dead Body charts the story of a young woman who made an extraordinary decision that will help the lives of countless people for years to come.
My Dead Body also documents a never-before-seen medical investigation. Until 2016, Toni Crews was a regular mum of two. But everything changed when she was diagnosed with a rare cancer of the tear gland and had surgery to remove her eye.
Toni documented her treatment via social media, sharing photos of her surgery scars and positive poems, striking a chord with many and building a huge online community of followers from the UK and abroad, thanks to her courage, humour and unaltered honesty. When Toni discovered that her cancer was terminal at just 29 years old, with her body ravaged by the disease, she was determined to continue to raise awareness and help others understand cancer even after her death. She not only agreed to donate her body to medical science but also chose to give consent for it to be on public display, the first instance of its kind in nearly 200 years of dissection.
Narrated by Toni’s own words and working alongside Brighton and Sussex Medical School, this film follows Professor Claire Smith, head of anatomy at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and her team, as they dissect Toni’s body and chart the course of the disease from the initial diagnosis to her death four years later. And while the scientists follow the journey of Toni’s cancer, her family including mum Jo Crews (pictured above) and friends tell the story of Toni’s approach to both her life and her death, and offer through home video footage and beautifully frank interviews a glimpse into the person she was and what drove her decision.
My Dead Body
Monday at 10.00pm on Channel 4.
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