Man gets lucky from dressing the dead

A mortician with more than 20 years of experience has revealed that he enjoys dressing dead people because he gets extremely lucky afterwards, especially when he works in places like St James and Manchester.

Joe Clarke* has been working in morgues since he was 14 years old, and he has lost count of the hundreds of dead people, including popular figures such as entertainer Bogle and reputed gangster Bulby, whose bodies he has fixed for burial.

"Anytime mi go Montego Bay go work, a deh so mi luck come in the greatest. Sometime mi all a dress a old woman and something come in front me and say buy da number deh, and from mi lef out a di place and go buy it, me a win," said Clarke, who freelances with several established funeral homes.

DUPPY FOLLOW ME

On one occasion, Clarke said he won $20,000 in Cash Pot after dressing a tall male.

"Mi and a woman a work, and mi tell her buy a number 31, and we win. The man did kinda extra long inna the box, and it come in like mi did haffi bend one a him foot dem di way him did tall. You know anything long a 31, and a it did play," he told THE STAR.

Clarke explained that he dropped out of school when he was 14 years old to become a mortician. However, he said that it hasn't always been fun and games.

"When mi used to live a Fletcher's Land, di mount a duppy follow me. Mi dress a girl already from Jungle weh get gunshot, and before mi reach a my yard, she deh deh. Is like a mind say don't go inna yuh house yet, and a yute see her and say: 'Yow, beg yuh da girl deh,' and mi think a joke. When di man start describe the girl to me, nuh the same one weh mi dress," he told THE STAR.

Yet, Clarke remains passionate about his job.

"From yuh say dead and yuh call me, nuh matter how di body stay mi can put it back together. If me can't mek it back, it just can't mek back. Mi nuh see no other job out deh weh sweet me like my work weh mi do right ya now. It has brought me a lot of luck, trust me. If me never enjoy doing it, I wouldn't be doing it until now."

*Name changed