Autopsy technician Gerald Ledford explained the procedure for deceased people who have piercings
An autopsy technician has shared what happens to your piercings after you die, and there's one piercing in particular which gets special mention.
We all wonder what happens after we're gone, whether there's a heaven and hell, reincarnation, or if we just go out and that's it.
But a question which might perplex a specific group of people is what happens to our piercings after we shuffle off the mortal coil.
And unlike the more existential questions around death, this is one where a human being can give us a definitive answer.
The human in question is Gerald Ledford who posts about his job as an autopsy technician on TikTok to his 1.4 million followers.
Going by the username @big_led73 on social media Gerald shares some of the trials and tribulations of accompanying people on their final journey.
And there was one question which was bothering many of his followers, who took to the comments to let him know.
They asked: “What about piercings. When I die I absolutely need to keep everyone single one. Facial and body piercings.”
Gerald came back and answered the question, and his answer could be more than a little surprising.
Most piercings are not in fact taken out, so for the vast majority you can go out like a Saxon king surrounded by a hoard of treasure, or at least wear your favourite earrings to eternity's party if you want.
Answering the question, Gerald said: “You worried I’m going to take your piercings out and you don’t get to take them with you?”
Well, it turns out all of them can go with you, except one.
“The only one that I take out is your tongue ring," Gerald said.
“I remove your tongue during an autopsy – we need to make sure you didn’t bite down on it, make sure you don’t have drugs in the back of your throat.
“So if you have a tongue ring, that one comes out, but nipples, nose, ears, eyebrow, private parts...”
Yes, all of those stay in place.
People took to the comments to share their thoughts.
One wrote: “So you’re telling me every time I’ve been to a funeral, the person was just chilling with no tongue and I didn’t know.”
Echoing the sentiment, a second commented: “Wait - you take out the tongue? Can I sign a no tongue removal clause?"
A third asked: “Wait! What? Everyone's tongue is removed.”
A fourth said what many were thinking, posting: “Well... that's something I didn't need to learn today.”
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@big_led73 / Alavinphoto/Getty