Man’s ashes spread in more than 100 countries with the help of social media

TORONTO –  CJ Twomey, a former member of the US Air Force, has been to more than 100 countries and even made a trip to space over the last year thanks to the kindness of strangers.

Hallie Twomey, a resident of Auburn, Me. had been dealing with the death of her son CJ, who took his own life in 2010, when last year she decided to create a Facebook page to help spread his ashes in “some of the world he never got to see.”

In an interview with BBC, Hallie said she decided last November to send her son on the journey.

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“It dawned on me that his ashes would be sitting in that urn forever,” Hallie told the BBC. “He didn’t get to see the world and I wanted to give CJ something he didn’t get a chance to have.”

She and her husband, John, began the social media campaign expecting only a few hundred responses, but soon received more than 9,000 requests and more than 18,000 likes on the Facebook page “Scattering CJ“.

People who express interest in the project are sent a picture of CJ, wearing a Red Sox jersey, along with a small amount of his ashes.

Those who scatter the ashes are asked to take a picture of their chosen location, along with a few words about why they made the choice.

IN PHOTOS:

The Facebook page is filled with photos from around the world, with many of the photographs showing either CJ’s picture in the foreground or a hand scattering the ashes.

Over the past year, CJ’s ashes have been skydiving in Arizona, scattered in the ruins of Machu Piccu, scuba diving in the Dominica Republic, and to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

This past October, his ashes were launched into space from the New Mexico desert.

CJ’s family said with only a limited amount of ashes left they are selecting offers based on “uniqueness or newness.”

In addition to far flung areas around the world, the ashes have visited nearly all 50 states and made  the trip to Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Alberta, and British Columbia.