Rose Marie Raised 5 Kids and Died at 99; Then They Discovered Her Organs Were in the Wrong Place

Rose Marie Bentley achieved something that is scientifically impossible, and no one knew about it until her death at the age of 99. She lived a full life until her death in 2017 at her home in Canby, Oregon.

She owned a business with her husband, James Bentley, who passed away 13 years earlier, gave birth to five children, and was active in her local church. The spectacular thing about her life was discovered when her cadaver was donated for scientific study at the Oregon Health and Science University.

The medical students at the school studied it for an anatomy class, and in the course of doing so, they discovered her insides were not arranged rightly, except for the heart. A closer examination led to the deceased getting a posthumous diagnosis of Situs Inversus — a condition where the internal organs are displaced.

It exists in one out of every twenty-two thousand people, and only 1 out of fifty million individuals born with the condition get to live to adulthood; Situs Inversus causes heart-related illness in those living with it. In the deceased's case, she had no known heart defect and lived a healthy life.

At 50, she had an appendectomy, and although the doctor found the appendix in the wrong place, he didn’t pay attention to it. Cam Walker, an Associate Professor, who helped the students solve the mystery told “Associated Press” that it took them some time to figure out the deceased anatomy, but the process was educative.

One of the students, Warren Nielson, said he found it astonishing and because of the experience, he looks forward to applying what he learned to patient’s care in the future.

Rose Marie's daughter, Louise Allee, said she and her siblings did not know their mother had the condition but had Bentley known, her daughter is confident she would see it as something cool and be pleased that her organs are helping to shed light on Situs Inversus.

A similar case was discovered in Turkey. Abuzer Urkmez from Adiyaman got diagnosed after discovering that his heart, spleen, liver, and stomach are on the opposite side of his body.

According to Radiology expert, Dr. Taner Bulut, Situs Inversus gets developed in the womb, and Urkmez who shares the condition with his oldest sister said it does not affect his life in any way.

Bentley and her husband decided to donate their bodies to science after reading a poem about remembering those who die, published by OHSU Body Donation Program.