Mum, 32, quits fashion degree to embalm bodies - including her grandad and friends

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A Rochdale mum who quit her fashion degree to pursue embalming has said she sees preparing the dead as ‘an honour’. Rachel Carline, 32, even worked on her own grandfather’s body following his death - an experience she said felt ‘natural’ after caring for him in life.

Drawn to the profession from childhood, she landed an administrative role at a Co-op funeral home in Rochdale after falling ill in her final year of university, but quickly realised that it was embalming that really fascinated her. READ MORE: Disgruntled Ryanair steward STUNS Manchester-bound passengers with rant about the company “Even as a kid I was fascinated with things other people would consider morbid,” she said.

When Rachel told her mum she thought working in the funeral industry would be a good job, her mum called it ‘ghoulish’, and her dad was worried about the kind of things she’d see.

But Rachel described the job as “a real privilege”. Now an expert in her field, she feels it is a privilege to be able to prepare a body to be viewed by loved ones after death, saying: "While it’s difficult and emotional, I also feel honoured to be in this position. "Me feeling this way actually drives me to make sure I do everything within my power to support families through a very difficult time.” While Rachel knows that many people consider her overwhelming desire to work in the funeral industry from such a young age to be somehow peculiar, she is extremely proud of her work and the service it gives to the public.