Posted on 02/25/2018 1:48:32 PM PST by Bratch
CHARLESTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- The students at Charlestown High School have won a lot of awards and accolades over the years, but senior Alexis Taylor's latest accomplishment can't fit in a trophy case: She's Clark County, Indiana's newest deputy coroner and she's just 18 years old.
"Anytime that we have an autopsy, I try to get there when I can. It all kind of depends on my school schedule," Taylor said. "I have to remember, no I'm still in high school. I still have a lot ahead of me."
Looking to add to her senior year course load, Taylor started the school year as an intern with the Clark County Coroner's Office. Her fascination with dissecting the dead started when she was just 10 years old, when she was fascinated by TV shows like "CSI" and "Criminal Minds." But nothing on TV could prepare her for the reality of death.
"My first one was a pretty bad case. The body had been decomposing for four or five days. So that was pretty bad," said Taylor.
It's a lot to handle for anyone at any age, but instead of discouraging her, it encouraged her to keep going. "I loved it! I can't wait for the next one," said Taylor, describing her first autopsy.
About a month ago, Taylor asked Clark County Coroner Billy Scott what it would take to become a certified deputy coroner. "He was like 'well you have to do this 40 hour training, it's in Indianapolis and then at the end there's this certification test you have to pass'," she said.
So earlier this month, Taylor took the test and passed with flying colors. "To my knowledge, she has got to be the youngest deputy coroner in the state," Scott said.
By day, she's walking the halls of Charlestown High School, but after school, her extracurricular activities involve sometimes 40 hours a week working at the Scott Funeral Home in Jeffersonville. Scott says her age doesn't hold her back. "She's got a bright future ahead of her. Much more focused than what I would think the average 18 year old kid is," he said.
Taylor doesn't take the job lightly. She feels like she has a responsibility to grieving families looking for answers. "We can tell the family that 'hey your loved one did not suffer.' That's always better that they know that. That it helps relieve their feelings," said Taylor.
Taylor admits this line of work isn't for everyone.
"I think the thought of being around death kind of gets to people, but when you learn to look at it as a science and not 'hey this is someone dead,' it changes the whole thing," she said.
After graduating from high school, Taylor hopes to attend IUPUI in Indy or IUS in the fall. She wants to study biology and eventually go to medical school to become a forensic pathologist.
Copyright 2018 WDRB News. All rights reserved.
Good for her. She already knows what she wants to do after High School, and it’s very lucrative.
It takes a certain type of personality to do that job and do it well. Same as with doctors and lawyers.
That makes me hopeful when I see High School seniors who really are ready to GRADUATE into the working world.
Impressive young lady!
My Mom studied to be an X-Ray Tech; she went back to school at 47! Her favorite part of the whole course was the autopsy they had to perform to learn Human Anatomy.
No, Thanks! ;)
My experience there strongly suggests to me that regardless of how smart and hard working this girl might be her age and lack of convincing professional qualifications render her utterly unqualified to hold this new title.
As I mentioned in a previous post I worked for a while in the Pathology Department of a well known hospital.While there I witnessed several autopsies...as well as a Clinical Pathological Conference which involved cutting up a brain to teach medical students and junior physicians and surgeons about different brain diseases.
During the first couple of autopsies I saw I had to hold onto an adjoining autopsy table in case my legs gave out on me.
It was almost 50 years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday.
My dad used to pick up bodies for the Wayne County Medical Examiner (Detroit). People were always dying to see him.
As an FYI to some terms:
- The truck to pick up bodies is called the Meat Wagon
- A decomposing body is called a stinker
- A body from the water is called a floater.
And some humor, what do you call 2 Funeral Homes on the same block?
Stiff competition.
As far as this Lady, my first thought was about the series I Zombie.
Doogie Houser has a sister?
i ALWAYS thought that one had to at least be a doctor in order to be a coroner.......
I gather she is very bright...and wants to go to Med School.
I've met some folks like that....
My son-in-law..wanted to be a Doctor when he was a 7th grader.
He's now a PGY-5 I think...Ortho Doc...applying for a Fellowship at the moment.
Some kids just know....
This young girl strikes me like that....
Yes,It seems distinctly possible...even likely...that this girl will,with time,training and maturity,become very competent and valuable in her chosen profession which,according to this piece,may prove to be medicine.
My comments were meant to apply to the girl *at this moment*...not what she might be like 10...20...or 30 years from now.
Charlestown is in Clark County, Indiana not Kentucky. Never trust the news to have their facts correct.
I wish the young woman...well.
Really now, you're the only person here who can make that comment, and it not be creepy.
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