NDE's

Looking through an NDE forum on Facebook recently, I was fortunate to spot this very interesting and quirky account, witnessed and reported by registered nurse and midwife, Dee Holme Werner, from South Africa.

(I don't have any social media accounts but I joined (temporarily) so that I could ask Dee a little more about it. She very kindly responded in detail)

Dee's initial post on Facebook :

In Nursing School we had to do an operating theatre rotation. I think I was third year by then. A patient died on the table and was successfully resuscitated. Later I went to see how he was doing in the ward. As I walked in he said, "You are the nurse who worked that bag!"

I had assisted the anaesthetist for a very short time 'bagging' (ambu bag) the patient while the anaesthetist prepared to extubate and reintubate the patient. I don't recall what the problem was with the existing tube but it had to be replaced. The patient said he was floating around near the ceiling. He said he saw each detail of the room, adjacent rooms and corridor.

He related lots of details he could not have known about (the surgeon had his own (particular) theatre boots, identified by a funny face drawn on the toes using coloured koki pens (marker); all the intravenous bags were hanging up with the front facing forward but the unit of blood was back to front; the ampoules on the anaesthetist’s table were all in a row but not in size order and not in alphabetical order; the surgeon told a golfing joke during the early part of the surgery; there were other details).

What interested me was his visual memories. We all know about hearing being the last sense to go but how do you explain the things he saw?

And her additional response :

To answer your questions:

1. When did this occur ?

I was at Nursing School from 1967 to about 1972 and this occurred during my operating theatre rotation in my third year.  So the year was probably 1970. 

2. Please could you give as much detail as possible ?

Some of them were quite personal.  The anaesthetist had left the bedside of the patient after the patient had been re-intubated and stabilised.  Everything was going okay.  The anaesthetist asked me to stand by.  I was only a student at the time and would have called him back very quickly if I or anyone else on the team had been worried.  The patient said the anaesthetist went to the loo. I didn’t check that out with the anaesthetist, I didn’t ask him or ever follow that up.  It isn’t the type of information I would put on Facebook anyway.
 
3. How many other medical staff were witnesses to this patient’s account ?

The first person to get the information was the surgeon. Apparently the patient asked the surgeon about his boots.  The surgeon came across me in the tea room and asked if I recalled any conversation about his boots. He asked if anyone had talked about the little face on his boots.  The face was in koki pens of different colours - perhaps placed there by a paediatric patient or the surgeon’s own children? 

I said I didn’t remember talking about the boots and why did he ask.  Apparently the patient had said to the surgeon when he saw the patient later in the ward, "Oh doctor, I like your boots."  This puzzled the surgeon as there is no way the patient could have seen the boots.  The patient was already anaesthetised before the surgeon walked to the table side from the scrub room.  The surgeon’s point was how could an anaesthetised patent be aware of information dependent upon visual input while he was unconscious.  We all know about hearing being the last sense to go and would have accepted the patient knowing about the boots if the topic had been discussed in his presence. 

I tended to talk about these things.  I cannot remember when my interest in mysticism began but it seems it has always been with me and being a nurse I had a lot of exposure to things, including accounts of NDEs.  I spoke to the other girls in my group.  It was just one of those stories we nurses shared at the meal table.  A story would take centre stage for a bit and then the spotlight would move to another. The span of stories reached wide. 

I mentioned to the surgeon the way the patient had greeted me when I walked into his room, "Ah! You are the nurse who …" and asked him what he thought of the patient’s account.  The surgeon said he’s a surgeon and a scientist and doesn’t know why patients say these things or have these experiences but he did find some of the details odd. 

The other visual perception the patient had was the ampoules on the tray.  He commented they were not arranged alphabetically or in size order.  Of course they wouldn’t be, because they were arranged in order of administration but again this was a visual experience of the patient, not auditory. 

I wish I had followed up more on that patient but hospital life has to remain on the hop to get everything done and one interesting thing follows another.
 
I trained at Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa.  The operating theatres were in the new block on the first floor.  Greys has subsequently moved to much bigger premises.  There are other experiences patients have related to me or things I have experienced myself.  50 years as a Registered Nurse and Midwife! 

I asked Dee this in addition:

Just a couple of questions. When you were "bagging" the patient, presumably he was completely unconscious, is that correct? Otherwise of course, you wouldn't have been surprised at his description, I guess. 

And can you remember how the patient described floating around the room ? Did he just say something like "Hey, nurse, during my operation I was floating around above you and could see everything, including the corridor outside the room etc..." Did he express surprise at such an out of the ordinary experience ?

Did you get the impression that he thought you believed him ? I don't suppose he described anything about in what "form" he felt he was in when he was up there?

Dee Holme Werner:

The patient was completely anaesthetised while being bagged.  The bag is an ambu bag.  It is applied to the patient’s nose and mouth (good fit) then squeezed according to the volume and rate suitable for the patient.  This puts air into the patient’s lungs. The patient has a passive expiration and the next squeeze is done to re-inflate the lungs.
 
The patient showed no interest in being believed or not believed, it didn’t come into his account at all.  He described 'floating around the ceiling' in a way I would describe what I had for breakfast.  It happened and he was telling me about it.
 
I got the impression he was delivering an account of an experience he had gone through that surprised him for its unusualness.  He was figuring out what it meant.  The possibility that I would not believe him didn’t come into it. 
He didn’t say anything about the form he was in except that he was able to float at will, could see and hear everything and felt no attachment to the body on the operating table. 

If this patient’s account is of interest to readers that is great.

Many thanks to Dee Holme Werner !

Some members of the forum will be familiar with David Ditchfield's NDE report which I posted back in 2018. It occurred in 2006, as he was about to have emergency surgery to save his life, the result of being dragged under a departing train from Huntingdon railway station in Cambridgeshire.  

Since then he's been interviewed numerous times, both in the UK and America about his NDE and the new talents he subsequently acquired.  Apparently, he had no particular previous artistic ability (painting wise) nor had he ever composed classical music before his accident, and yet he has now completed more than forty canvasses and several symphonies, some of which have received critical acclaim.

Ditchfield is convinced that his NDE was a glimpse of the afterlife, but doesn't want to preach to anyone; only to recount his story to those that may be interested.  I contacted him, asking if he could possibly just clarify a detail about his experience, which I felt he hadn't made clear in his interviews. 

The majority of people that report out of body experiences (in near death situations) state that they didn't see or were not aware of any kind of 'body' belonging to them, usually describing themselves as disembodied consciousness. David, however reported full awareness of a body, which was now lying very peacefully (without any injuries whatsoever) on a kind of  'slate plinth' being attended to by an androgynous being of light, amongst other extraordinary things.

As his badly damaged physical body was obviously lying on a hospital gurney with great commotion around him (he was bleeding to death with his left arm effectively severed) I was curious to know if he had any thoughts on how to conceptualise this strange paradox of existing in another body, while still having the feeling that this new (etheric ?) body was identical with his real self.

In other words, what might this other mode of being be?

Hi Tim, thank you so much for your question, it’s good that you’re a stickler for detail! The moment you talk of, when I’m lying on the slate rock looking down, as you rightly describe, is my soul body, though it wasn’t the same distressed body that I had left torn, cut and bruised from the accident lying in the hospital, I still recognised it instantly as being my own body. Like most of us, I’m familiar with pretty much every contour and characteristics of my body and it still felt just like me in the same body, the one I’d walked around in all my life. The only difference being that every limb in this other realm looked somewhat relaxed and healthy, as if free from the pressures and restraints of the world I hope this helps in answering your question!

Before David's accident, purely by chance he was given a flyer (paper ad) by a woman on a train, advertising where a certain medium was going to be giving readings. He was not the slightest bit interested (so he related) but because he'd nothing better to do, went along anyway and duly received a message that his life was about to change in a big way... coincidence or not, it certainly has done.

Just as a footnote, the devastated driver of the train immediately retired. The train carriage itself was removed and taken off for detailed forensic investigation etc and because of this accident the law was forever changed (according to Ditchfield)

This is one of David's many interviews and is lengthy and detailed. The first and last half hours deal with his NDE and his existential thoughts about it and other's experiences. The rest is still interesting for those with plenty of time on their hands.     

 Midnight in the Desert with Tim Weisberg

 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fen5hfk2b7qs2e...1.mp3?dl=0 

 https://www.facebook.com/DavidDitchfieldNDE/   

Senior Professor Enrico Facco is a specialist in Neurology, Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation at the University of (Padua) Padova in Italy and gave this excellent and detailed interview about the phenomenon of NDE's to Daniele Cipriani (Assistant founder of 'Ghost Hunters Roma'). 

I contacted her by email and she very kindly gave me permission to reproduce it here (translated)
 
What is a near-death experience and what are the characteristics of which it is composed and from which it develops?

NDEs are intense and profound subjective experiences of transcendent appearance that occur in critical conditions associated with loss of consciousness (such as cardiac arrest, head trauma and polytrauma, states of shock) and characterized by the distinct perception of being in a different dimension from the ordinary earthly life, of having abandoned the physical body and gone beyond the limits of one's own ego and of the space-time dimension of the ordinary physical world

As an individual and a doctor, what convinced you of the reality of near death experiences?

NDEs are relatively frequent, with an incidence in cardiac arrest, ranging between 10 to 18%,  having a clear epidemiology and precise clinical characteristics, so they can be studied with the scientific method. Their narrative indicates well organized experiences, whose main elements are universal, while secondary descriptive and cultural elements mostly concern ethnic differences.

The NDEs generally have a profound meaning for the subject who experienced them and a strong positive transformative impact on the conception of life, on values, attitudes and personal interests. In this way, patients acquire, after a difficult phase of transition and reworking of their values, a more conscious and profound vision of life, in which the disappearance of the fear of death predominates, as opposed to other critical experiences which are more often the origin (cause) of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Today there are several interesting neurobiological and psychological hypotheses on the mechanisms of the origin of NDEs in the international literature; however, they are far from providing a clear and satisfactory interpretation of their origin and meaning.

The subject is very broad, including the problem of the mechanisms of acute brain injury, the involved neurotransmitters, the drugs used in therapy, the similarities between NDE and the effects of hallucinogens, and the psychological mechanisms, such as dissociation (eg de-realization, depersonalization, autoscopy) and expectations about the afterlife.

In a nutshell, none of the scientific interpretations provides proofs, they remain at the level of a hypothesis, while some of them are also hypothesized as hypotheses.

The evidence supporting the reality of such experiences is consistent, numerous and overwhelming. What does current science bring to this (evidence wise), to deny its existence almost aprioristically?

The current scientific and cultural paradigm tends to consider 'a priori' that NDEs are a kind of dreamlike, hallucinatory or delirium state produced by brain disorder and/or by pharmacological therapy during the critical phase of the clinical course.

The reductionist interpretative hypotheses available to date, appear more like an attempt to force these phenomena into the perhaps too narrow scope of current knowledge. If the possibility of witnessing the factual events (veridical OBE's during NDE) that occur during the phase of complete loss of consciousness (such as in cardiac arrest) should be confirmed by further empirical evidence, it would be necessary to reconsider from the foundations, the physiology of consciousness and the so-called "hard problem", or the still mysterious mind-brain relationship, in search of the laws of nature and the still unknown mechanisms that govern these phenomena.

In other words, the solution of the apparent incompatibility (scientifically) between NDE on the one hand and the dominant attitude on the other can lead to two different outcomes: a) the demonstration (that NDE's) have only dysfunctional or hallucinatory meaning or : b) to reveal the insufficiency of our current knowledge and of the classical scientific paradigm in the understanding of this phenomenon.

With the prejudicial reduction to mere organic brain disorder, up to their (complete) denial or even derision by scientific medicine of the twentieth century, near death experiences have profound epistemological implications and constitute a great challenge to the reductionist paradigm, highlighting the enormous power of the cultural filters (what is accepted ) of the so-called spirit of the age, what Heidegger called official metaphysics.

Prejudice and dogmas are not the prerogative of religion, as many are inclined to think. They are omnipresent in all disciplines, even in science, which is necessarily based on unproven assumptions. The history of science, its cultural revolutions and the omnipresence of detractors in the course of its evolution unequivocally demonstrates the inexorable dogmatism of the detractors who oppose the new theories, when they undermine the beliefs and the dominant world view: if the Copernican revolution and the overcoming of the geocentric view of the solar system had to struggle hard against the Church to assert itself, at the beginning of the 20th century, relativistic physics and quantum physics had to also struggle hard, against the opposition of the proponents of classical physics.

Any new phenomenon apparently implausible (and the NDEs are a definite clinical fact with a clear phenomenology and epidemiology) is a great challenge to find the correct interpretation, and must not be impeded by any 'reductive forcing' or by the denial of the facts, therefore succumbing to prejudices, beliefs and dogmas, religious or scientific.

On the contrary, it must never be forgotten, as Erwin Schrödinger rightfully argues, that "the activity of living matter, even if it is based on the laws of physics established so far, presupposes unknown laws that we will have to discover, which constitute an inalienable part of these sciences in the first place."

What are the particularities that have struck you most, talking and listening to patients who have had these experiences?

The beauty and coherence of the stories, the lucidity of the patients, their awareness of the strangeness of the experience compared to the dominant (mainstream dismissive?) opinion of them and the need to recount it to those who can understand it; the great impact and positive meaning for the life of the subject (the experiencer); other intriguing elements are apparently parapsychological variations, such as the cases in which the patient has reported exiting their body and perceived and described events (that occurred) during cardiac arrest. 

To deepen the technical aspects of this matter; taking advantage of your (Dr Facco's) expertise and knowledge of the subject: why should a state of coma cause a patient to have an NDE while his neighbour (in the next bed) in the same state, doesn't ?

Currently it is not known why only some patients have these experiences. NDEs are well organized experiences experienced in critical brain conditions associated with loss of consciousness (such as cardiac arrest, head trauma and polytrauma, states of shock ) but, similar phenomena can occur even outside these conditions albeit rarely. Their incidence is relatively high, not less than 10-18% of critically ill patients and are therefore a clinical phenomenon that is anything but sporadic.

It is often impossible to establish with absolute certainty whether the NDEs occurred in the period of the abolition of consciousness or just before; their clinical and phenomenological characteristics seem to suggest the first hypothesis, but this is incompatible with the current knowledge of cerebral physiology, ie the impossibility of conscious activity under conditions of anoxia or severe hypoxia.

However, this possibility is suggested by individual cases of OBE described carefully, which provided clear evidence of what happened during the cardiac arrest. It must be admitted that any veracious perception during OBEs is a major challenge for non-paranormal interpretation of NDEs, but this challenge must not, however, give in to any restrictive forcing or denial of facts.

If the NDEs were the simple expression of organic brain disorders they would probably be more frequent; on the contrary, it is surprising how about 1/5 of the subjects have these experiences in conditions where the most probable thing would be a retrograde amnesia and therefore missing memory.

In what state is the brain during the visions experienced by those who've had an NDE? Is it able to "invent" scenarios, experiences ?

The brain conditions in which the NDEs occur are critical and with loss of consciousness, such as cardiac arrest, which should exclude any possibility of conscious activity. If it were an "invented" fact, it would hardly have such universal characteristics and with elements that are often outside the convictions and the world view of the subject (eg transcendent visions of atheists, visions that do not conform to the theology of the religious). Similar experiences can occur, even if rarely, in physiological conditions, such as a case described by us during a profound existential crisis related to the divorce of the subject.

The type of brain activity found in the near-death state, differs significantly from what can be found during a dream state ? Do you completely rule out that the experience reported by the patient cannot be a dream or a cerebral hallucination?

Since it is not possible to know the exact moment in which the NDEs take place, one cannot make any inferences on their electroencephalographic aspects or compare them with those of the different phases of sleep. However, they are totally different because the sleep electroencephalography is certainly different from that of the coma, while in the cardiac arrest the electroencephalogram becomes flat within a few seconds. In any case, even the oneiric (dream) experience, the delirium and the hallucinatory states are completely different in content and language from the NDEs.

Recently, studies of mammals have shown that for 30 seconds after an induced cardiac arrest, there is  brain "activity" with a widespread overvoltage, the characteristic associated with a highly excited brain and conscious perception. We hear a lot of 'journalism' disparaging NDEs after this discovery. Does it not complicate the study of NDE's precisely because the brain waves found were of the gamma type?

There is only one piece of literature on this subject related to a study in rats. It is certainly a study of scientific interest, but requires further confirmation and from this simple fact no interpretation concerning 'man' can be extrapolated. In fact, in humans the data available to date indicate a complete flattening of the EEG in a few seconds (10-20); moreover, with reference to the gamma activity found in rats, we obviously do not know if it is connected to any manifestation of consciousness and I do not believe that anyone will ever be able to collect testimony of a rats experience (*obviously). If this data is therefore potentially interesting for further studies, it is completely devoid of information related to NDEs and it is inappropriate to draw any conclusions about their pathophysiology based on EEG observation of some rats.

We are at the end Professor, giving us one last question decidedly outside the box : from your point of view, is there an afterlife?

This is the great mystery of the human condition, the mother of all problems. It is a problem that cannot be solved rationally; it lies beyond the boundaries and limits of logic and intellect, which are only one of the ways of relating to reality. If anything, it is a question of the competence of wisdom (a concept in which the meaning has been lost in the modern world, not just the faculty) and of an intuitive knowledge that lies beyond the limits of conceptual thought.

I believe there is a growing need to overcome the radical dualism of modern Western culture, which from Descartes onwards has separated the mind from the body and the observer from the observed reality in an irreconcilable but artefactual way. The position of the empirical sciences, which held the res-extensa as the primary and only object of interest, has been associated with scientific medicine, dealing almost exclusively with the body, understood as a Cartesian earthly machine. Such a position is by definition inadequate to study and understand the world of the psyche (of which science itself is a product) and its relation to the world, while the same classical conception of the physical world and its relation to the observer has been subverted by 20th century physics.

The transcendent tonality of the NDE suggests immediate and too easy conclusions about the existence of an otherworldly life, of the soul or of reincarnation in whoever is inclined to believe that life is not limited to the biological aspect alone. It is therefore appropriate to specify that the NDEs do not constitute a proof or a clear indication of the fate of the individual beyond physical death, even if they seem to suggest it.

Similarly, the reminiscences of previous lives, both spontaneous and hypnosis, however intriguing, do not imply the existence of reincarnation; on the other hand it must be recognized that the rejection of the idea of reincarnation in Western civilization is an exclusive product of cultural filters and is not based on rational arguments, let alone on demonstrations.

This remains the greatest and most concrete mystery of existence, which makes metaphysics no less concrete than physics (since we all have to die) and is situated beyond any single theological and doctrinal vision. As Taoism states, Being is the origin of existence. What is conventionally called being, including man, is only existence; existence has its root in non-existence. Non-existence is origin, end and natural counterpart in the phenomenal world: therefore non-existence, as the matrix of existence, is no less real and concrete than existence itself, even if unknowable.

The GHR Scientific Research Association,

NDE – Intervista al Dott. Enrico Facco – Ghost Hunters Roma

Many thanks to Daniele Cipriani of 'Ghost hunters Roma' and of course Dr Enrico Facco.

In 1968, Nicole Dron nearly died from a haemorrhage (that occurred after a hysterectomy) and had a profound near death experience. This was seven years before Raymond Moody had even published his ground breaking book, Life after Life and coined the now well known phrase. I contacted Nicole and her husband Michel and they very kindly agreed to let me reproduce it here on Psience quest.

This translation has been painstakingly carried out by fine tuning the very crude google translation. French does not convert into English and vice versa, at all well. Appropriate synonyms and common sense have to be applied, when it's obvious that a particular word or sentence is clearly not what the author would have intended.

However, I'm confident it's a pretty accurate English representation. Nicole has specifically requested that she is not contacted, just to add. I may follow this up with the remaining part of the story if I can get it right, that is.

Nicole Dron was born in 1941 in Aisne, France She was one of the first "experiencers" to agree to speak publicly about her experience.  Through lectures and radio and television programs, she has contributed greatly to the recognition of EMI's (Near Death Experiences) in the general public as well as among interested researchers and scientists.  For more than twenty years (thirty years ago now), Nicole Dron has tirelessly travelled all over France and other French-speaking countries in order to assist all those (she believes) her story can help.

An experience on the frontier of death by Nicole Dron

More than 40 years ago I had an experience that broadened my conception of the world and altered all the values of my life. It was a profound and unforgettable event that touched every aspect of myself and gave me the certainty that death doesn't exist. I will never forget this experience.  It is part of me, always there to remind me of the fullness, beauty and immense peace of a state that defies description and by comparison, makes the elusive search for material wealth, fame and power, seem derisory and depressing. I wish this experience could dry every tear. I hope it helps to demystify death, so that life may be more pleasant.

Forty Five Seconds of Eternity
 
It happened in 1968. Three weeks after the birth of my second child, I had a very big haemorrhage. I was hospitalized and operated on urgently.  During the procedure (hysterectomy/removal of the uterus), a second haemorrhage occurred. My blood pressure plummeted and my heart stopped beating. I was told afterwards, that the electro-cardiogram was flat for about 45 seconds. 

And during those 45 seconds, I experienced eternity!

First of all, I remember being at the height of the ceiling. I was there with all my thoughts and emotions, all that constitutes me, myself. I became aware of seeing from all sides at once, but above all, I felt a new and incredible feeling: that of existing outside my body! I can assure you it is overwhelming to know that you are (still) existing outside of yourself. I realized I was merely an inhabitant of that body lying on the operating table. 

I looked down at it, cadaverous, with tubes coming out of the nose and mouth, not at all nice to see. (However) It didn't matter anymore because that body wasn't really me, it was only a vehicle. I heard the surgeon say: "She is slipping through my hands!" (this was confirmed to me a month later by a nurse who was present at my operation)

I didn't spend too much time in this operating room because I thought about my husband and father in-law, in the hospital. Just thinking of them, I instantly found myself there in a waiting room.  I was aware of passing through the walls. Everything seemed natural to me, because at the time, I didn't think about it; it just happened. Later I wondered, how is that even possible?  How could I have gone through walls, and how could I have found this room, because I didn't even know where it was, I'd never been there before!

I noticed there were was no seats available for them. My husband confirmed this (fact) to me later. I saw them pacing up and down and I tried in vain to get their attention. They didn't see me and I couldn't understand why.  I felt a sort of despair at not being able to communicate with those I loved. In desperation, I put my hand ( subtle body ?) on my father-in-law's shoulder and it went right through him!

But at the same time, I became aware of a new ability, that of understanding everything. I never lost the sense of being 'me', but I felt as if I'd become bigger and occupied more space. I could 'see' into the mind of my husband. I knew all his thoughts, the essence of him, his self worth as a human being.

The same thing happened with my father-in-law. My in-laws had lost their first son at the age of 25. He'd died while trying to save a friend from drowning. As a result, they'd lavished all their affection on their second and last son who was fourteen at that time.

When he later became my husband, I had the impression that I'd taken him away from them and they didn't love me for myself, but only according to how happy I could make their son. And that made me unhappy!  And there, in the mind/heart of my father-in-law, I realized all the affection and compassion he (actually) had for me and I was able to see beyond my own projections.

Propelled at a prodigious speed towards this Light

I then found myself in an abyss of darkness and silence, alone in the world, in an infinite nothingness where I wanted more than anything just to hear a sound and see something. I don't know how long that lasted.  Maybe a split second?  Time didn't exist.  I thought, "This is it my daughter, you're dead", and yet I wasn't dead, since I still existed.  A sentence I'd been taught by a catechism teacher came to mind: "We lived until the end of time, until the final resurrection". In this context, the idea of living in this nothingness and darkness seemed to me unbearable.

Something in me appealed for help and in the distance I saw a light. From that moment I was no longer alone in the world. I was propelled at a prodigious speed towards this light and, as I approached it, it grew to occupy all the space. The darkness was clearing; I felt presences around me without seeing them distinctly, but above all an incredible joy arose in my heart, a joy a thousand times greater than all the joys that you could experience on earth.

And I went into the light.  There are no adequate words (to describe it).  This light was pure love; a love that requires nothing.  Immersed in an ocean of love, totally understood, fulfilled and accepted just as I was, for all eternity and so far from the worries and agitations of this earth!

I was no longer aware of time and space, just of being, of always having 'been'. I realized that I was part of this light, that I was eternal. In this fullness and immense peace, I understood the meaning of the words 'I am'. It is as if, while (still) being me, I became everything and I found my true nature. I'd found my home.  I had become (pure) love and life. 

If each one of us could experience this, if only for a moment, there would be no violence, no war, no misery. The very purpose of existence would be realised and beauty would be its fulfilment.

In this light I saw a resplendent young man coming towards me. My heart jumped for joy because I recognized my brother.  My parents had lost a seven-month-old child when I was 11 years old. I loved this child; I was his 'little mother' (so to speak).  After his death, my parents and I experienced a grief so well expressed by a quote from Alphonse de Lamertine: "Only one person is missing and the whole world seems depopulated".

But he was alive there and I was so happy!  He embraced me in his strong arms.  Totally connected with his thoughts and feelings and I told him "Father and Mother would be so happy to see you!"

He assured me that he has always accompanied us in our lives and I realized that the 'bonds' of love are never broken.  How could I be sure that this being really was my brother? There is obviously a big difference between the physical traits of a baby and those of a teenager. Yet I knew absolutely that it was him.  (It was) A soul-to-soul recognition.

I also met my brother in law, Jacques, whom I have never seen except in a photograph. I was very surprised that he seemed to know and love me so much. He showed me the circumstances of his death, how much his parents had suffered, especially my mother-in-law. He told me we could change the events around us, that we didn't have to just accept everything (and we could stand up for ourselves ?), but we had to do it with love.

I also encountered beings that I've never seen on earth. And yet I'd (somehow) known them and it was a great pleasure to see them again. They gave off so much nobility and respect that I felt like I was a little girl in front of a teacher, to whom one feels great deference....

All these meetings took place in a landscape flooded with light, beauty and peace. (Specifically) I was in a garden of exquisite nature.  The grass itself was so green..there were flowers with colours I'd never seen. The sounds themselves were colours and it created a unity and harmony which enabled me to understand how sacred life is. Everything was alive, a single blade of grass delighted me, because I saw all the molecules of life, of light within it.

In this state, I thought that beyond the human grief and suffering we experience when leaving those we love, we should rejoice to know that they have returned home; they are on their way to find their real lives.

"What did you do for others and how did you express love?"

I experienced my life in reverse, from being 26 years old, right back until the time I was born. Close by, there was a being of light, a being known to my deepest self. I cannot describe the radiance and strength of love that emanated from him. I later realized he also had a wonderful sense of humour.

I heard his voice which seemed to come from the depths of the universe, a voice powerful and delightful at the same time, but one that had nothing to do with sentimentality. It is a voice of both authority and love merged into one, and is able to renew your strength. This voice asked me, "What did you do for others and how did you express love?" I felt immediately the importance of the question.

I had a vision of a multitude of beings whose arms were stretched upwards imploring. I knew that these beings were suffering and I felt it.

What had I done for them? I wasn't mean, but I didn't feel there was anything especially good to focus on. This question required more reflection on the meaning of brotherhood (fraternity), a willingness to grow in life with those around me,  maybe as Emerson said, "He who does a good deed is instantly ennobled", and I understood that it required a lot of enlightenment, strength and love to set us free (from the status quo?) in life. 

It also required me to bring forth the best in myself and such a transformation might then help others to be fulfilled themselves. I felt humanity as one being, though it's members were interdependent for their progress and survival. I realised I had new responsibilities.
 
The understanding of these two simple questions, continues to deepen over time.

All my life was there (before me), all the hopes, joys and sorrows that constituted it. I saw all my childhood emotions,  revisiting forgotten events, where all my motives were uncovered.  We can hide nothing. Everything is there in the story of our life ! It was troubling because, during this review,  I was not just the one reliving each situation, with all the emotions that accompanied it, but also the other part of myself,  the wisdom, knowledge and justice, which was not affected by it.  It was the pure light (my higher self ?) the other part of me, that was evaluating my life.

Through it, everything was becoming clear.  I understood my psychological traits, how they were connected and what  had limited me. My inadequacies and many more subtle nuances that I haven't yet managed to adequately express. I became aware of the good and the bad I had brought upon myself and the repercussions of my thoughts and actions on those around me.

With an act of kindness, I felt the positive feeling from the person receiving it.  Similarly, when I had been unkind, I felt their pain and especially became aware of how petty it all was.

How we are laid bare when this great consciousness evaluates our life according to the criteria of wisdom and love ! This is where we ultimately come to understand our weaknesses and shortcomings ! It is then that we regret all the wasted time spent chasing things that have no value.  This is where we rue not having been "true" to ourselves!

But this awareness is also accompanied by compassion for oneself, because we see that ignorance, fear, and (social) conditioning have held us back from what we truly are and what we could have accomplished (without them). To change ourselves is hard; it is difficult to turn fear into trust, selfishness into altruism, etc. It takes time and a desire to actually want to do it.

But I know this is the most important thing that we have to realize here.. and I am on this pathway,  struggling....from now on, the deepest desire of my life is to consciously find that state of freedom and fullness that I experienced when I arrived at the core of myself in this space where there is no more fear, conditioning or conflict, where I was no longer limited by my emotions and prejudices. What a wonderful freedom this oasis of peace was! This is certainly what is most important in this experience because, from this centre of peace, which I know from now on, is my true nature, I realized all that, in me or around me, obstructed this fullness.

I understood and I was reborn
 
I was shown what my future life would be like and I was asked if I wanted to stay or return. Part of me wanted to stay but I then thought of my two young children ( who needed their mother). I was made aware when I came back I would be unable to remember the many things I learnt. Despite my desire to keep hold of all this knowledge, I know that much of it has faded away. I was only able to bring back the 'crumbs' of it, regretfully.

When I say I was shown or it was told to me, it is as if I received this information from a 'brother being' or simply from the great light. It was like being in a class without a teacher.

I was shown (saw) my children growing up and I was proud of that.  I saw my grandmother and in-laws departing from the earth almost at the same time. In fact two of them would leave within three weeks of each other. 
My grandmother and stepfather left us 13 years after this experience (in 1981) in a period of three weeks and my mother-in-law the next year ... I revealed this information to my husband and parents which naturally alarmed them.
  
In that 45 seconds I experienced millennia.  I remember witnessing human sacrifices (for instance)...knowing the truth about Joan of Arc and receiving information concerning lost civilizations, including Atlantis.  

I was told that God was the power, movement and existence of everything and that life flourished throughout the universe. That when I die, I will not be asked what race or religion I belonged to, or what philosophy I held, but only how I treated others as an individual ....

….I also saw the future of humanity. I saw that our earth would be the object of many upheavals and that we would have to endure great trials and tribulations. We have well developed technology and a lot of scientific knowledge, but little wisdom in using it for the benefit of others. And I was shown everything that could happen "if" we didn't change. I insist on using "if" because it is us that will determine it.

We are at a crossroads where nothing is inevitable and everything depends on our ability to act wisely...

….But it is true that 40 years ago, when everything was flourishing, I saw unemployment spread over the whole earth, terrible weather, a plague that ravaged the earth, volcanic eruptions, and many other catastrophes.  But I don't want to be too negative.  I know too well (now) the power of thought and I know that these events will only happen if we continue to ignore our consciences by flouting the laws of love.

I also saw that I had already lived on this earth previously. I witnessed parts of other lives and the link that united them all.  We come back to earth until we have acquired sufficient wisdom and love, and that everything was a question of evolution which I then understood (because it seemed obvious).

I saw this very interesting veridical OBE/NDE (which I was already aware of) on the near death experiences public group, on Facebook. Karen Thomas was a physical therapist at a hospital in Anchorage Alaska and developed a severe problem with her back which needed corrective surgery. The experience occurred after the administration of the general anaesthetic.

A Near-Death Experience: A Surgeon’s Validation

Karen Thomas (permission* granted during Covid 19) [ This content has been declared free to read by the publisher during the COVID-19 pandemic. ]

 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/756190/pdf *

"The next thing I was aware of, I found myself very near the ceiling in the corner of the room—inches from the ceiling tiles. I became aware of the doctor swearing angrily and ordering nurses to get more bags of blood. I looked back toward the sound and saw my body being flipped from face down to face up on the table. There was quite a commotion of people rushing out and back in, and I remember how pale my face looked. I knew it was my body I was looking at but felt no alarm or concern. I remember moving effortlessly through the wall of the room and down a hallway out through the double doors of the operating suite. I couldn’t feel any resistance or sense of touch when passing through the wall or doors."

https://about.muse.jhu.edu/about/story/

(from) Karen M Thomas

Here is my submitted story just published in Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics Journal for Project Muse Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, Volume 10 Number 1, Spring 2020 Johns Hopkins University Press  Project Muse
They are planning to use this entire article and symposium to write NDE curriculum for medical schools. It is published temporarily to the general public as a courtesy due to Covid19, but will soon close and be made available only to subscribers.

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/756190#.XtW...s.facebook

In 2015, Dave M from Colorado, USA, was relaxing at home when he suddenly developed severe heartburn, tightness in his chest and extreme numbness in both arms. He (of course) realised he was probably having a heart attack (It turned out to be the deadly left anterior descending widow maker).

He called 911 twice, the first time he didn't get through but after the second time of trying, within five minutes the paramedics arrived. (Dave had manged to open the door so they wouldn't have to smash it down). I contacted him and he was happy to give me permission to publish (on here), indeed he said he loves talking about it.

(Note: There is no veridical content but the report demonstrates the enormous reality (realness) of these experiences for those that have them). 

The paramedics had arrived...

I had chest pain, tightness, really bad heartburn and both my arms were numb above the elbows. Then everything started to get dark and I fell unconscious. After what felt like a few seconds I found myself on the 'other side' or what seemed like another dimension, feeling perfectly fine.

It was amazing !  I was in no pain and I found myself sitting in a green mist, totally conscious, maybe even more conscious than I was in life. At first I was in awe  at where I found myself but after a few seconds realized I had died. I had this feeling as though I was wrapped in a warm blanket and in a higher state of consciousness and although I felt this great sense of peace and joy, I wasn't ready (to die) and didn't feel as though it was my time.

I was only there for about a minute (or so) because the paramedics told me my heart had stopped for one minute, but what is really strange to me is that it felt more like twenty minutes had passed, like time was stretched. 

I found myself in this really surreal greenish blue mist that was all around me, 360 degrees.  When I fell unconscious, I could feel my spirit fall out of my physical body. It felt like two pieces of Velcro pulling apart, then I woke up there (in a new place) just seconds later. It was an entirely different world or like another dimension. I always knew we didn't just die; I've never been a religious person but I've always felt that this can't be all there is, now I'm 110% sure of an afterlife.  I don't believe there is one I know there is, no fear of it now !

I was thinking (later) this was due to how intense the experience was. It was a strange feeling being between life and death in this weird state, I actually felt myself coming back and I woke up on my bed surrounded by paramedics. The paramedic sitting next to me told me my heart had stopped for about one minute. I was kind of shocked because it felt like so much longer than that. I didn't see or hear anyone, but my body  (astral, soul?) was transparent and I was in a sitting position (when I found myself on the other side). It was a pretty amazing experience and although I almost died, I know there's nothing to worry about (when we eventually die). I think the worst part is here on earth and the pain of dying.

It was a very strange position I found myself in (when I went unconscious), my legs were sideways and I don't think I could sit that way with my physical body. The surface felt like a floor, a flat surface. The ground or area I was sitting on was also green and blended into the green all around me, it was actually a greenish/blue colour. There was a low level of light coming from behind this mist, it was like being in a fog or mist, the mist was more in the distance, though. 

[*]It kind of looked like it was maybe 15 to 20 feet all around me, it was really beautiful ! When I found myself there (not realising yet that I had died), I said wow! Cool! Then after a few seconds I was like uh oh...then I knew exactly where I was, I even said,  "I'm dead!" It was amazing how conscious I felt, not that much different from being alive but more conscious.  I did feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket, it's so hard for me to explain, it wasn't scary except for the finality of it and a little apprehension of where I was going to go from there? Very surreal.

(further thoughts) I caught a glimpse of the other side. I was only there for just a brief moment but I took in as much as I possibly could. I like sharing my experience, I know there is so much more but just knowing we continue on is very comforting. I've always felt that this life we have, couldn't be all there is, that we just don't only turn to dust.

I was at the entry to the afterlife. We definitely go to a different plane of existence; it wasn't a dream or a hallucination, I was as conscious as I am sitting here typing this post to you. I don't have any profound things to say about my experience except that there is an afterlife. Thinking about it I suppose that might be a pretty profound statement, lol ! It's kind of what mankind has always wanted to know.

I'm not trying to embellish or make more out of it than what it was, though. I'm still agnostic but now I know we have a spirit. I've always been a science guy. I need to actually experience something to believe it. When I had that heart attack and found myself in this other world I was totally blown away. I didn't see god or angels or a white light, I just sat there in awe of my surroundings and of what I (my spirit/astral body soul?) looked like, pretty much in shock. I would say it was a pretty humbling experience. And I find it very comforting. I used to think we just ceased to exist when we died, kind of like going unconscious and you never wake up, you just die. I was totally wrong.

I remember every second of my experience even though it was close to 5 years ago. I was taken to the hospital and they put two stents in my heart (I take medication, watch my diet and I haven't had any problems since then..I changed my previous lifestyle of eating fast/junk food. They told me my heart was 95% blocked.

Earlier, when I woke up (after the arrest)  I wasn't in any pain but once I sat up, after a few seconds the chest pain came back even worse. They rushed me to the hospital and I underwent surgery.  I was there for a week, but it took a couple months to get my strength back and I'm very lucky to be alive. They told me I had a blockage of the left anterior descending, the widow maker !
  
I just caught a glimpse of the afterlife and the intensity of it can't really be put into words, I know there is so much more ! I just sat there hoping the paramedics would bring me back (wasn't ready to die yet), I knew they were working on me I just couldn't see them. It was comforting to catch a glimpse of where we go. When I popped over I immediately let out a "Wow"! "Cool"! Not realizing I had died. It only took me a few seconds to figure it out, I even said "I'm dead" I swear I heard a girls voice say, "Yes" but it was pretty faint so I'm not quite sure if that's what I heard.

I'm glad I didn't but I'm not worried (about it) now. I want to stick around (because)I have two pets, a cat and a puppy to take care of. I got a puppy figuring I have to have at least a dogs life left in me. I have had many pets in my life and I'm hoping to meet up with them again, it will be quite the reunion lots of friends and family also have passed on. I'm the last man standing in my family so they are all waiting for me.

(more)
 
The strangest thing was the way my body looked, I found myself in a sitting position, I wasn't hot or cold, it was like the perfect temperature and there was no pain.  I could feel my body, or spirit body, it was transparent.  I moved my arms and hands and checked myself out a little and I didn't look anything like my physical body, everything worked just fine. I moved my arms and hands, it was so strange, so peaceful, but I didn't want to stay, I was totally fine but not ready to leave the physical world.

Even though it's not like I have the most exciting life I didn't want to stay (there). It was great to get a glimpse of the hereafter, absolutely amazing and  when my time comes I'll be ready. I guess we don't have any choice in the matter. We will all die but at least I know we really don't die.  I wish I had seen more but I was just sitting there frozen, I didn't want to move from that spot where I found myself, I knew the paramedics were probably working on me even though I couldn't see them.

There were quite a few paramedics and they were all freaked out, one of them thought I was (had overdosed) overdosing and kept asking what I took ?  I got mad and yelled, " I'm having a heart attack" and about a minute later my heart stopped. When I woke up I could tell they (the other paramedics) were annoyed with him; one of the women even asked him why he was so sure he thought I had taken something.

In 1976, Lynne H had a veridical near death experience when her heart stopped during the time she was trying to give birth to a daughter. Apparently, the baby's head was quite large and the child didn't make an appearance until her mother was surgically assisted (shall we say).  

I asked her if she would be willing to provide more details, after she posted a short summary of her experience in a comments section on YouTube. She kindly agreed and provided some very interesting insights/perceptions on what dying is actually like. It seems to me that if one accepts testimonies like this as being sincere and honest accounts, then it's looking more and more likely (arguably) that our physical bodies may be comparable to a vehicle, rather than being solely our real selves.   

Hello. Thank you for your message. Here goes: It was 21 January 1976 when I was admitted to hospital because I was in labour with my first child. On arrival I was put on a monitor and left in a room on my own. Everyone went home and I was left with a trainee midwife who kept looking at the printout every couple of hours and then leaving to ask someone what it meant. I had arrived at 4pm when my contractions were every 5 minutes. 

By 9pm they were (occurring) every three minutes. It was painfully long and slow. By 11pm I was wanting to push. For four hours I pushed and pushed. I was in severe distress and extremely exhausted. I told the midwife time and time again that the head was too big. She said it is a 6lb baby and I should have no trouble giving birth. Eventually she gave in at 2.45am. She cut me and the baby shot out like a bullet. 

They just caught her before she fell off the end of the table. She had a huge head and weighed 8lb.  I tore inside and out and lost a lot of blood. I went into immediate shock and my heart stopped beating. It was pandemonium. A nurse rushed in to pump my heart (CPR).  Someone else rushed in with frozen blood and put it on the radiator. A junior doctor was reading my notes in a panic. He was just turning pages and pacing (around). He just didn’t know what to do. 

Another nurse yelled for a mask. She couldn’t give me oxygen because the mask was missing the oxygen tube. A doctor asked for a mobile x-ray machine to see if it was an embolism. Then he asked a nurse to empty my bladder. (After she accomplished that) She threw the contents away and the doctor went mad at her because he had wanted a sample of urine. A female doctor started shouting at me saying "wake up"! 

How do I know all this? (Because) I watched it ! The pain after giving birth was so bad that I decided to leave my body. I knew I was not supposed to, but I said (thought), (I'll do it) just for a minute to get away from the pain. I sat up (in spirit or consciousness) and the top half of my spirit was at the head and my legs were still inside (the physical body). I was being warned in my (spiritual consciousness) "no more", but I ignored it and headed for the ceiling. I was going backwards and there was a kind of misty tunnel which I went up. 

I landed on something firm, but I was (also) in a doorway looking out at the mist. Someone was behind me stopping me from going further. I imaged it to be Jesus due to the compassion that flowed from him. He said telepathically, "What do you want to do?" I said I wanted to stay. He said, "What about your daughter?" I immediately got a picture of her life without me. I saw my husband in a sports car with a gold watch on his wrist, driving west down a straight motorway to go visit his daughter. When he got there his elderly parents were sitting on a sofa, and the baby was sitting on the floor looking dreadfully unhappy. 

I immediately decided I would go back. While out of my body I had no negativity at all. I was pure compassion. I could only think of what was best for others. At that moment there was a wave of approval ( from the beings) I then realised there were hundreds of angels behind the man. They were flapping their wings and it sounded like applause. I was immediately rushed back to my body, and I have to say it was the worst experience of my life. Getting back inside the body was awful. 

I was overcome by pain as I slid in, and it felt as though I was too big to fit. It was like being squeezed into an iron lung. I immediately regretted my decision. I was so depressed. I was sewn up and that was awful too. The pain was as bad as the labour. I suffered for months and months with the effects of the tearing. I was unconscious for some time. When I woke up my husband was by my bed. I was in intensive care. He had left the hospital and was phoned immediately to come back as "your wife is dying". He looked shocked but was pleased to see me coming round. I was too weak to even wash myself and the nurses had to do it. 

After some time, I went onto a ward and I could finally meet my daughter. Before I was discharged a consultant came to see me. I asked him what happened. He said, "Oh you lost some blood so we had to give you a transfusion". Everything is okay now, though". 

That was a lie. The blood loss was minimal. He never mentioned my heart stopping, being resuscitated, the pandemonium. As you can imagine, I try to stay away from hospitals and doctors now. I don't trust them at all. 

Thanks, Lynne !  When you were 'leaving' your body, is this something that you expected to happen ? And when it did happen, can you recall what it felt like (to leave your physical body behind) ?  Did you feel that you were still entirely yourself (your whole thinking self) just maybe lighter or more free, perhaps ? How would you describe it ?

Hiya. Well once I was suffering, it was as if my body allowed my spirit to take a break. The minute the top half of me (the spirit me or consciousness whatever it was) was out, I knew everything. I just knew that if I slid out, I would not be popular (because I was then dying on them--the nurses etc), but I just wanted some respite. Once out, it was bliss ! I had no body, but it was as if I was exactly the same. The difference was the fact that I knew things and could communicate telepathically. It was all so right. I did not want to go back. It was sheer bliss out there. 

I was obviously being controlled in some way because of the way that "master" (Jesus?) blocked me from going too far. I knew I could (just) think something and it would happen, but he read my mind and gently stopped me. He didn't tell me anything, just got me to see what would happen if I stayed (there). I saw such clear pictures. Because you are total compassion when not in a body, you only make decisions that are positive. 

Once in the body again, I was full of pain, hurt, depression, fear - all the negative emotions that are obviously only part of the body and not the spirit. The bit I didn't say was that, not long afterward my husband's parents moved to Wales. We used to drive down the M4 to visit them. I soon realised this was the motorway (I'd seen) and the house they bought was the one I saw. Even the carpet was the same. It was so spooky to realise this, at a later date. Seeing my daughter in this house was a premonition. However, if I had not been here, my daughter would only see her father now and again.

Can I just press you a little bit more with respect to when you left your body ?  How did you actually know you could do that (leave your body ) in the first place ? Was it just obvious or did it become obvious ?

I see what you mean now.  What happened is that I was dying and my (spiritual) body started to leave.  Once my (spiritual) head started to rise I suddenly knew everything.  I knew I must not leave entirely.  Sitting up was (a) relieving (of) the pain while they pumped my heart.  However, once you are out, the desire is to leave.  Which I did.  If my heart hadn't stopped, I don't think I would know how to leave (my body), even if I wanted to.  It is obviously the first thing the spirit does as you die, it starts to leave the body.  As I said, as soon as my head 'left', I knew things.  I knew not to leave entirely but I ignored that.  It was just so pain-free and peaceful out of the body.

No-one made me come back.  It was my choice.  However, you become so unselfish and pure when you are not in the body that you only make the best decisions.  The child was the important thing which overrode my feelings.  I desperately wished I hadn't decided to come back, once I was actually back in the body, but that is because all the negative emotions were back.  I have been constantly shocked at how toxic the body must be, to feel so different when you are in it, to how you feel when you are out of it !

Thanks for those interesting details ! The bit I'm particularly curious about is this >  "Once my head started to rise ". What you are actually describing here is of course impossible !  Your head is lying on a hospital gurney. It can't rise unless the nurse lifts it up, do you see what I mean?  So you are basically describing "something else" leaving your physical head ...let's say your mind (your self, whatever you want to call it).  So, is that what you are saying ?   

Sorry, what I meant was that my 'spirit head' rose out of my actual head. This happens when you die. At once I could sense and see everything spiritually. As the rest of me rose up, I could watch what was going on. 

Thinking that Lynne had prior expectations because of her informing me this is what happens when you die, I asked her if she therefore did have them (prior expectations) ?   

No ! I had no idea (that this would happen). I tried to tell my husband about it, once I was(back) home, but the look on his face made me think he thought I was mad. I immediately clammed up and never told another soul. Then my boss, who is a nurse, brought the subject up once, and I told her my story (in response). She believed me and was fascinated. She was the only person I ever told. 

Unfortunately, she told a reporter friend of hers who was interested in this stuff. I received a phone call from her so I told her the basics. Next thing I am in the Daily Express! Very disconcerting that was. Still didn't tell anyone else though. I don't usually read about other people's experiences now, because the two I read were nothing like mine. I decided everyone must have their own experience and not all are necessarily the same.

Many thanks to Lynne H !