It took six weeks, six hours and about 45 minutes in line Saturday for Shan Kettle of Kaysville to get to the "Body Worlds 3" exhibition with her husband and her two older daughters.

By waiting a few more seconds — long enough to let her three family members through the turnstiles first at The Leonardo, Kettle's entrance became a bit of a historic occasion. She became the 100,000th visitor to the exhibition of human bodies and the halfway mark of the organizers' goal of 200,000 patrons by the time the exhibition closes Jan. 7.

Kettle was greeted with a gift basket and a bank of news media.

"I wasn't expecting this when I got up today; who would?" Kettle said after finding herself in the spotlight. "It's a little more attention than you expect for just showing up."

The notoriety didn't overshadow what she said was a desire to see the exhibition since a family member had returned from a staging in Las Vegas "completely overwhelmed and amazed."

Her husband, David, is a firefighter/emergency medical technician in Davis County. He said he has more than a passing interest in the real-life display polymer-embalmed bodies, but this was the first chance to take stock of the human body from the inside out and not rushing to an emergency room.

Lisa Davis, a spokeswoman for the exhibition, said The Leonardo wanted to make a fuss about the 100,000th visitor because attendance has been beyond expectations. Organizers weren't sure how the unique and, at times, controversial show would go over in Utah.

"But we knew that Utahns wanted and deserve this kind of world-class educational and cultural opportunity, so we're not surprised, really," Davis said. "The crowds have been steady during the week and heavy on the weekends. And with about eight weeks left, we're feeling pretty positive about achieving our attendance goal. The exhibition presenters are pretty pleased, I know."

"Body Worlds 3" is arrayed on 20,000 square feet and includes 200 specimens. More than 25 million visitors in 47 cities across Asia, Europe and North America have seen the exhibition since its debut in Japan in 1996.

Kettle said she understands the draw.

"We all walk around in these amazing bodies, and we really don't have an appreciation for the strength and how fragile we all are," she said. "Seeing how complicated and intricate we are inside is amazing and inspirational."

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E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com