‘Live autopsy’ company dead set on taking art of dissection to the masses Entrepreneur – and body – to appear on TV’s Dragon’s Den
IT’S a ‘live’ show that’s somewhat dead on arrival. A body is revealed before being cut open and dissected as part of a standard autopsy.
The only difference is that there is an audience.
Staffordshire entrepreneur Samuel Piri, who runs an education company, puts on the live demonstrations across the country – and this week appears on TV’s Dragons’ Den pitching for investment.
Mr Piri is chief executive of Tamworth-based Inspire to Aspire Events (ITAE) and will be seen on the BBC alongside ‘VIVIT’, the firm’s semisynthetic human cadaver.
The model is cast from an actual body but is made from synthetic materials by a special effects company.
Originally from Sutton Coldfield, Mr Piri studied anatomy and later became a science teacher.
He started educational dissection events in 2012 before creating ITAE in 2015 which now tours the UK hosting live events.
It runs Anatomy Lab Live, claimed to be the world’s only live and interactive anatomical dinner and dissection experience whereby guests’ dinner tables are transformed into operating tables following a meal.
It also runs Operating Theatre Live which is a travelling operating theatre experience for students in the UK and Europe.
Mr Piri attracts audiences from the corporate and education worlds as well as supporting schools.
He remained tight-lipped about whether he was successful or not but admitted Deborah Meaden was “horrified” by the model when he visited the set in April.
Other panel members Jenny Campbell, Peter Jones and Tej Lalvani, who runs one of the UK’s largest vitamin company Vitabiotics, were happy to get involved, he said.
“The BBC actually approached us twice about appearing on the show, both two years ago, but we didn’t need the extra investment back then, and again in January this year,” he said.
“The whole filming took about three hours so it was a long and gruelling experience up in Salford.
“We are looking for international expansion but this is the first time we ever tried to get external investment.
“There’s a lot of interest from the US and Europe and we are looking to position ourselves to withstand any impact from Brexit.
“I feel anyone who gets offered the backing of a Dragon would be a fool to turn that down, not just for the PR but the expertise they bring.”
The show will be broadcast at 8pm on BBC Two on Sunday, August 12.