While Mother's Day is a notoriously busy day for most businesses, a Stockport bar decided eschew tradition and close yesterday evening to attend a 'live' autopsy event.
Enigma bar, a family-run bar on St Petersgate in Stockport town centre informed its customers on social media that it would be closed on Sunday evening to attend Post-Mortem Live at Eccles Sixth Form College in Salford.
Owners Kevin and Lisa, who opened the bar in Stockport eight weeks before the pandemic, found out about the event on Facebook and decided to take the hit on earnings by closing for the night and attending the four-hour event. The website for Post Mortem Live says it offers people the chance to get 'hands on' with real anatomical specimens of porcine origin contextualised into a simulated human body dissection.
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The Post Mortem Live is primarily for students and healthcare professionals studying healthcare courses and biosciences, and many of its events are organised in partnership with universities and colleges. However, the event is open to non-students as well as those with an interest in anatomy and physiology.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Kevin said: "My wife Lisa was on Facebook and an advert came up for it, and we have a lot or regulars who we do quiz nights for and holidays too, and one of them said they were quite intrigued by the event. So we booked it, tickets were about £65 a person, and there's a storyline, and someone comes out and tells you about the body, then people can dissect part of this pig's head."
Using a state-of- the-art cadaver, the live event deals with real specimens and allows people to conduct real technical dissection and even ascertain the cause of death.
Tickets, priced between £39 and £65, include basic PPE, gloves, specimens and clinical consumables, and while the body looks real, it is in fact state-of-the-art special effects and specimen of porcine origin that are used to replicate and simulate the post mortem experience.
Sharing a couple of videos on its Instagram page, viewers can see a 'body' in the background and Kevin saying, "Just to let you know guys, we're not just the weirdos", as he pans round to fellow guests. While they lost out on a night's earnings, Kevin and Lisa have built up a loyal following of customers, and said they were confident punters would not be put off my them closing for one night.
"We run karaoke nights, plus lads and ladies nights as well," explains Kevin. "On Wednesday, there's also a group of us going to Benidorm on holiday, and we also host drag nights and charity events to include everyone.
"We're not just a bar, we're a community hub where we know everyone. We're also very inclusive. We did lose out by closing, but people will come back as the idea of the bar isn't about making money, it's about having a laugh and welcoming people. On Friday and Saturdays were often so busy that we're turning people away."
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