Jospice Mattress Cover Image
Posted on 12/24/2007 6:50:16 PM PST by Swordmaker
INTRODUCTION: The Jospice mattress cover is a sienna colored, rectangular, three dimensional nylon cover and bears a striking image of the palm of a left hand accompanied by an image of the lower torso from the buttocks to below the knees, an image of the left arm, a fainter image of the upper part of the right arm, an image of the shoulders and an indistinct image corresponding to the lower part of the left face, all portrayed in a deeper shade of the mattress color. Father Francis O’Leary contacted me in June of 1986 offering me the opportunity to examine the mattress and to conduct tests on it. He arrived from England with the mattress cover and all of his medical records in August of 1986.
HISTORY: The image was found on the mattress cover immediately following the death of a man named Les, a 44 year old (DOB 8/20/36) West Indian who died from terminal pancreatic carcinoma at the St. Joseph's Hospice (Jospice International) in Thornton near Liverpool, England).
The nurses that attended Les indicated that on the night prior to his demise, they rendered him pain free and attended to his needs as they arose that included alternating positions and pillows, giving him sips of water and etc... He was getting weaker as morning approached, and his urine output was poor at 5:30A.M. He became unresponsive and at 5:55 A.M., he passed away. The nurse found him with one arm across his chest, the other lying straight by his side with some of his fingers bent. His face had fallen slightly off the pillow. Following his death, when the nurse was cleaning the bed, she noticed the image on the mattress cover and despite scrubbing it with Savalon, a chlorhexidine gluconate disinfectant but indicated that the image was not affected.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of the mattress cover image and to compare it to the image on the Turin Shroud.
This is excerpt. Read the entire PDF file (requires Acrobat Reader or other PDF file reader).
|
bflr
That hand looks too cartoonish. I’m not believing it.
Bump.
The cleaner used on the mattress cover precipitates the iron in the heme onto the mattress cover. Maybe someone used a weak ammonia solution?
The result is you see an OUTLINE if the body parts above.
You'd have to get the surface of the bed cover just right to create any sort of "picture" this way.
Now, contrast that with Jesus who sweat blood. All we have to do is find out what the linen that covered His body was last washed in before use as a burial cloth.
Les' hand image Cartoons are denoted by outlining the perimeter of the image with a dark line and I agree with you. The Shroud of Turin lacks all outlining as shown here, the perimeter of the Shroud image fades into invisibility. The Jospice mattress cover image perimeter grows darker toward the perimeter.
My initial impression was the similarity between the Jospice image and the anatomical drawings in the notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Thank you for the post and ping, its been awhile. Merry Christmas to you, and all everyone on the Shroud ping list.
Interesting activity in the world of Shroud research has been a tad arid lately... not much happening.
I'm with you.
As an artist and long time researcher on the Shroud - this is so phony in so many ways =
Ping to read later
Thanks for the ping!
I agree with the characterizations that you and others have made, to the effect that the image looks rather “cartoonish.”
For the record, though, there is an error in the article’s description of the image. It says that the hand image is from the left hand. This is incorrect. It is actually an image of the right hand of the purported cadaver. If one were to lie on a mattress (or sit on a chair, for that matter), take his own right hand and place it under his thigh, he would notice that the “pinkie finger” side is toward the outside edge of the right side of the mattreess or chair on which he did this. The thumb would be on the side going toward the middle of the mattress. If one could make a drawing around the hand at this point, and then look at the finished product on the sheet, it would appear to be a “left” hand, as in the photos accompanying this article. What appears is a mirror-image of the hand. Not a big deal, but Dr. Zugibe might want to ask for a correction at Shroud.com in order to increase the credibility of an otherwise interesting article.
Hi Barrie,
I posted a short excerpt of Fred's excellent article on the Jospice Mattress Cover Image and linked the article to your webpage and PDF of the file on FreeRepublic where I maintain a Shroud of Turin Ping list for about 150 0f our members who are interested in the Shroud.One of our members noticed that Dr. Zugibe has made a classic error of reversal when he reports that the image is the image of a LEFT hand. In actuality, being an apparent contact print, it is actually a RIGHT hand. Here is his post:
To: Swordmaker
I agree with the characterizations that you and others have made, to the effect that the image looks rather “cartoonish.”For the record, though, there is an error in the article’s description of the image. It says that the hand image is from the left hand. This is incorrect. It is actually an image of the right hand of the purported cadaver. If one were to lie on a mattress (or sit on a chair, for that matter), take his own right hand and place it under his thigh, he would notice that the “pinkie finger” side is toward the outside edge of the right side of the mattreess or chair on which he did this. The thumb would be on the side going toward the middle of the mattress. If one could make a drawing around the hand at this point, and then look at the finished product on the sheet, it would appear to be a “left” hand, as in the photos accompanying this article. What appears is a mirror-image of the hand. Not a big deal, but Dr. Zugibe might want to ask for a correction at Shroud.com in order to increase the credibility of an otherwise interesting article.
15 posted on 12/26/2007 5:43:16 PM PST by magisterium
I think magisterium has a salient point. As a photographer, I think you will notice the same thing that magisterium did. You might want to contact Dr. Zugibe about revising his otherwise excellent article.
I have enjoyed meeting and talking with you when you have participated in Shroud forums in my hometown of Stockton, CA. Do you know when there might be another in this area?
Thanks for a wonderful, well presented website.
Sincerely,
{Swordmaker}
Thanks, Swordmaker. Could you add me to your Shroud pinglist? I’ve been a “student” of it for some 30 years now, and your list (and Barrie’s site) would be a good way to stay current. Thanks.
All possible. The matter is being fact checked with Dr. Fred Zugibe now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
