Forensic pathologist explains that your eyes remain viable for fifteen hours after death

It is unfortunately perhaps the only thing that happens to everybody, rich or poor. It is an event that connects us all today, and will certainly still connect us all tomorrow, and yet it's a very taboo subject. You guessed it, we are talking about death.

We still don't know what happens to our spirit after our last day on Earth, but, in some cases, we can observe some changes in the body, a few days or hours before and after a person takes their last breath. Dr. Melinek has revealed what happens to our eyes when we pass away, and it's unexpected to say the least.

Our eyes are viable for 15 hours

Forensic pathologist Dr. Judy Melinek has spoken to The Healthy about what happens to certain parts of the body after we die. The doctor explains that while some of our organs expire very quickly once we die, others can live on for hours. Indeed, our eyes, heart, bones and skin can survive for up to fifteen hours after our death, which allows for life-saving transplants.

Time is of the essence when an organ needs to be transplanted into another body. According to the Eye Bank Association of America, most cornea transplants take place in the week following the donor's death. Our heart and lungs can survive for a shorter amount of time, usually between four to six hours.

Our eyes may turn blue or grey

According to Dr. Melinek, the white part of our eyes can change colour as it dries out. According to Grunge, it usually happens a few hours after death. This phenomenon can also be known as the 'dead eyes'. She told The Healthy:

Many people die with their eyes open, and when the whites of the eyes start to dry out they turn blue or gray. This is called ‘tache noir’ and is frequently part of forensic board examinations—to see if the pathologists recognize it as normal post-mortem change or if they mistake it for a disease state or intoxication.

In the days after you die, your cornea becomes opaque and your eyeballs retreat into the skull as the blood flow is cut off. According to the Review of Optometry, a person's eyes can help determine their time of death, as potassium levels drop slowly in our eyes.

Read more:

⋙ These phenomenona start happening to your body two days before you die

⋙ This is everything you've always wanted to ask about cremation

⋙ Hospice nurse reveals 'messy' phenomenon that happens in your body when you die

Sources used:

The Healthy: 16 Bizarre Things That Happen to Your Body After You Die

Grunge: YOUR EYEBALLS DO THE MOST DISTURBING THING AFTER YOU DIE

Review of Optometry: CS EYE

Eye Bank Association of America: Frequently Asked Questions about Eye Banking, Corneas, and Transplantation