Family converts dead dad into diamond

By Lester Haines

Thursday 29 March 2007

A Blackpool family has created a "fitting memorial" to deceased dad Mick Egan - by converting him into a synthetic diamond, the BBC reports.

Egan died last year of a brain haemorrhage and his wife Susan decided on a novel way of preserving his memory. A US company extracted carbon from Egan's ashes, heated it to create graphite and then compressed the result to create a rough diamond which was then cut to the family's specifications.

Susan Egan was evidently delighted with the result, enthusing: "We had to have a blue one because my husband's eyes are blue. I never visualised that it would be so beautiful until it arrived. He is my diamond geezer now.

"It was the right thing to do and it just brings me so much comfort that I've got it now to last forever. He loved being the centre of attention. He could light a room up when he walked in it. In some respects the diamond lights up, which is a memory of how he was."

The memorial arrived the day before daughter Celeste's wedding, allowing dad to accompany her down the aisle. She said: "It was emotional but it was nice emotion because I was pleased that it had happened and that I could have something of my Dad to take down the aisle with me. It seemed like the right thing to do for us as a family and for my Dad - we think he would have loved the idea."