A harrowing simulation has revealed what actually happens to the body when a person passes away.
If you've ever wondered how a dead body of flesh and blood ends up becoming nothing but skeletal remains, morbid simulator pro @Zackdfilms on YouTube has all the grim and gory answers for you.
The YouTuber explains the process starts pretty much immediately after death, with blood settling in the parts of the body that are closest to the ground within 24 hours.
In Zack's example of a human body lying on its back in a casket, we see in the simulation that the deceased person soon develops 'purple and red patches' all over the skin where the blood has settled, like at the back of the head where it touches the coffin.
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The organs are then next to go as 'bacteria and enzymes' target them to break them down from the inside as the simulation shows how this works from the internal organs in the abdomen.
Interestingly, this then releases a gas that causes the body to bloat.
This stage only takes a few weeks after death, after which point all of the body's internal organs begin to follow suit and waste away - and you won't believe what happens to the eyeballs.
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The simulation explains: "After a few weeks, all of the organs and soft tissue, including your eyes, liquify and your skin starts to fall off."
The horrifying simulation shows in grim detail just how the eyeballs turn to 'liquid' and 'melt away'.
However, that's not to say within mere months all that's left is bone as the YouTuber explains decomposing fully can take years.
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"Over the course of several years, your remaining tissue continues to decay," it continued. "And eventually, all that's left is a skeleton."
Daniel Wescott, director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University, told Live Science that a body buried in a coffin starts to break down within 12 months but can take up to a decade to fully decompose and 'skeletonize'.
However, insects and other elements also play a part in the process, as Nicholas Passalacqua, an associate professor at the Forensic Osteology Research Station at Western Carolina University, said a body buried in the ground or without a coffin can skeletonize within five years.
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The news outlet adds that decomposition is straightforward, with the body kicking into decay almost immediately when oxygenated blood stops flowing.
The organs then take a hit from the lack of oxygen, which can also turn the body green in about 18 hours after death, while the bacteria in the abdomen work simultaneously and rapidly, causing the body to bloat and even smell.
This is then followed by the appearance of green-black blood vessels visible through the skin in around 24 to 48 hours.
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A hot environment can help accelerate the process, hence why human remains are often kept refrigerated until burial.
When the bloating stage ends, that's when the body's organs and tissues soften and other life forms like insects and microbes munch on the remains and leave nothing but a skeleton.
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