A FORMER bare knuckle boxer who will be cryogenically frozen after losing his battle to cancer was determined to avoid death at all costs, his son has revealed.
Dennis Hobson, 82, died after battling lung cancer last week, with his body now to be flown to Michigan and submerged in temperatures of -196C until a cure can be found.
The Sheffield legend’s son Dennis Hobson Jr, said his father had been diagnosed with cancer three years ago but had been determined to live life to the fullest, even cracking jokes just days before he passed away.
He said: "He wanted to live forever."
He said that his father had heard about the possibility of being cryogenically frozen - and immediately took to the idea.
People choose Cryopreservation as an option for the afterlife because they believe that cures might have been invented for the ailments that killed them.
Speaking to the Sun Online, Mr Hobson said: "He said – that’s what we outta be doing – going in the ground or up in flames is final.
"This way it’s not absolutely final, you could sleep for 50, 100 years and who knows what technology they will have by then to bring you back.”
He said that his father's death was an "end of an era".
He said: "No matter what age he was, he was ageless. He wanted to live – he didn’t think that 80-something years were enough, he wanted to live til he was 100 at least.”
But while finding it difficult to speak with doctors about his father’s terminal illness while trying to organise the next phase of his father’s “life”, Mr Hobson said it was worth it.
He said: "We have carried out my father's wishes - it wasn't the most pleasant thing to achieve but we did it.
"I would have felt really guilty."
The family managed to cover the USD$28,000 cost to have his father, of Sheffield, South Yorks, stored at the Cryonics Institute in Michigan, with the body of the former boxer to be flown out next week.
There, he will be stored near a 14-year-old British girl who died of a rare form of cancer last year.
Mr Hobson said that after the experience, he was now determined to be cryogenically frozen himself, when the time came.
He said: "Once you are buried or cremated you’ve no chance.
"This way, whether it’s even 0.00001 per cent, it’s still a chance.
"I’m not a religious person but whether or not you’re religious, if you think there’s even a chance that you could come back you can see that we have progressed.
"The world is moving that much quicker – years ago we used to think the world was flat so who knows what we can do into the future?”
Cryopreservation of humans is not reversible with technology presently available - but many people have faith medical advances will one day allow people to be 'resuscitated and restored'.
The process is based on the theory that the brain can retain memory and personality while frozen - and that one day, scientists will be able to successfully defrost and heal the bodies.
As stated on Alcor, one such lab that preserves bodies: "Calling someone 'dead' is merely medicine's way of excusing itself from resuscitation problems it cannot fix today."
Mr Hobson has now thrown himself into organising a farewell for his father, organising live music and a party in place of a funeral, with the body already having gone through the first stage of preservation.
Paying tribute to the 82-year-old, he said: "He was an absolute character, he was somebody gifted with charisma and he will be sadly missed.
"He led an adventurous life, he was a man’s man and he had a good voice.
"He could bring a smile to anybody’s face, from any walk of life.”
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Mr Hobson made the announcement of his father's passing on social media, saying: "Lots of people have been asking about dad's funeral arrangements but, in line with his wishes, we're in the process of having him cryogenically frozen so there won't actually be a funeral for people to attend."
Dennis' family said that they would instead be holding an event at Ponds Forge to celebrate the life of the 82-year-old, who worked as as scrap metal businessman after having gone toe to toe with hundreds of opponents during his time as a bare-knuckle boxer.
Dennis Hobson Jr said: "In the absence of a funeral it will be a chance for people to celebrate his life.
"This has obviously been an extremely difficult time."
He said that the event, held this Saturday, would include live music and showing videos as a tribute for his father, who has been described as a "sincere and loyal person".
Sorry to hear the sad news about Denis Hobson senior passing away. Team khan sends condolences to Denis Hobson Junior & his family
— Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) January 12, 2017Mr Hobson's body is currently in Leicester, with it yet to fly to the US.
As part of the process, bodies are placed into 10ft fibreglass tombs, with bodies at the Cryonics Institute placed on a plank before being lowered head-first into a freezing vat.
More than 340 bodies are believed to be in "storage" currently.
Another family member who wished not to be named, added: "Dennis was always a rum lad and genuinely the nicest guy around.
"This will be the first Sheffield person to have been cryogenically frozen - he always did like to stand out in the crowd."
While it is rare in the UK hundreds of such practices have taken place in America.
It comes after a terminally ill British schoolgirl won a court battle to have her body cryogenically frozen in the US in the hope she would be able to be resurrected in the future.
Her father hit out at the decision to have his teen daughter go through the process after her death.
The case saw a spike in people expressing interest in going through the procedure after death, with children as young as seven signing up.
A myth that Walt Disney was frozen after his death was completely false.
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