A man who volunteered to be decapitated for science has cancelled the surgery after finding love.
Valery Spiridonov, 33, had planned to take part in an experimental head transplant performed by Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero, but after two years of planning has decided against it.
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Mr Spiridonov has found love with his wife Anastasia Panfilov and recently had a son.
"We lived in the same city, and often met on professional matters and soon realised that we felt really good together," he told Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.
"She has several degrees. We got married a little over one year ago in Moscow."
The family now live in Florida where Mr Spiridonov is studying the computer analysis of emotions at the University of Florida.
Mr Spiridonov has Werdnig-Hoffman disease, which causes muscle atrophy and eventually death. He is permanently confined to a wheelchair and has in the past said he has no memories of ever walking.
When he signed up for the surgery he felt his quality of life had declined enough he was willing to take the risk of it failing, rather than not try at all.
"I understood that it was a great risk, that it had never been done before," he told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
"But what did I have to lose? I could not lose just a tiny chance to walk normally."
But now he's decided he does have something to lose and would rather spend more time with his small family.
He still wants to see wants to see the surgery go ahead, just with somebody else.
"I gave two years of my life to this project. I will be glad to see it happening [with someone else]," he said.
"I am deeply grateful to Prof Canavero."
Newshub.
