CASE HISTORIES OF NDE'S

VERIDICAL NDE OF PAM REYNOLDS

Pam Reynolds underwent a rare and dangerous surgical procedure called “Operation Standstill” in order to remove a life threatening aneurysm deep in her brain. The procedure requires the blood be drained from the body, stopping all brain, heart and organ activity. After this was accomplished, while fully anesthetized and wearing sound-emitting earplugs to determine brain response and function, Pam suddenly heard the surgeon’s saw as he carved into her skull. She observed the surgical procedure from over the surgeon’s shoulder. She also heard what the surgeon’s nurse said that was later verified. Upon returning to consciousness, she was able to accurately describe the unique surgical instrument used and report the statements made by the nurse. Her account is described in detail in Dr. Michael Sabom’s book, Light and Death.

PAM REYNOLDS NDE

PAM SEES GOD

VICKI NORATUK'S NDE IN THE BLIND

Vicki Noratuk has been completely blind from birth. Nevertheless, she was able to view things as any sighted person would in her near-death experience triggered by a car accident. During her NDE, she observed her hair, body and wedding ring. She realized she was viewing her own body.

Childhood NDE: Crystal Merzlock

Eight-year-old Crystal Merzlock nearly drowned and was without a heartbeat for 19 minutes. She told her pediatrician Dr. Melvin Morse that she was told she must return to help with her baby brother who was born months after the incident.

Sudden Talents following an NDE: Dr. Tony Cicoria

Dr. Tony Cicoria was (and still is) a renown orthopedic surgeon with a very busy practice. He reported that he had no interest, time or talent for music. Soon after his NDE in 1994 which occurred after being struck by lightning, Dr. Cicoria developed a sudden craving for listening to classical piano – Chopin, in particular. After weeks of listening, he developed an intense desire for playing the piano himself, but he had no piano. Just as he thought about this, their babysitter called to offer him a piano. He began to teach himself piano. After weeks of intensive practice, he developed an obsession to begin composing himself. He now performs in concerts, while keeping us his practice as a surgeon. His story was written up in the New Yorker magazine and in Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Dr. Oliver Sacks who attempts to see this phenomenon from a materialist view. He has been featured in NOVA and BBC broadcasts.

HEAR TONY PLAY

HISTORICAL NDE/OBE

Dr. Carl G. Jung (1875-1961)

In Memories, Dreams, Reflections, psychoanalyst Dr. Carl G. Jung describes a near death experience he underwent after he had broken a foot and suffered a heart attack.

"It seemed to me that I was high up in space…Far below I saw the globe of Earth, bathed in a gloriously blue light…Below my feet lay Ceylon, and in the distance ahead… the subcontinent of India. My field of vision did not include the whole Earth, but its global shape was plainly distinguishable."

The psychoanalyst described the reddish-yellow desert of Arabia, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean. "The sight of the Earth from this height was the most glorious thing I had ever seen," Jung said, estimating that his consciousness would have had to have been at least a thousand miles up to have perceived such a panoramic view of the planet. He was most emphatic in stressing his belief that the experiences he had during his heart attack were not the products of imagination or a fevered brain.

"The visions and experiences were utterly real," he wrote. "There was nothing subjective about them; they all had a quality of absolute objectivity."

HISTORICAL NDE IN LITERATURE: PLATO'S ER- FROM THE REPUBLIC

One of the oldest NDE-type reports is found in the Greek philosopher Plato’s book, The Republic. In it, he relates the story of Er, a soldier who awoke from being dead and described the account of his journey into the afterlife. Whether myth or a story based on reality, the account echoes many of the experiences reported in NDEs.

"..a warrior bold, Er, the son of Armenious, by race a Pamphylian. He once upon a time was slain in battle, and... after coming to life…said that when his soul went forth from his body he journeyed with a great company and that they came to a mysterious region where there were two openings side by side in the Earth, and above and over against them in the heaven two others, and that judges were sitting between these, and that after every judgment they bade the righteous journey to the right and upward through the heaven with tokens attached to them in front of the judgment passed upon them, and the unjust to take the road to the left and downward, they too wearing behind signs of all that had befallen them, and that when he himself drew near they told him that he must be the messenger to humanity to tell them of that other world, and they charged him to give ear and to observe everything in the place." (Rep. X,614 b,c,d) "..[He also saw] extended from above throughout the heaven and the Earth, a straight light like a pillar, most nearly resembling the rainbow, but brighter and purer ... and they saw there at the middle of the light the extremities of its fastenings stretched from heaven, for this light was the girdle of the heavens like the undergirders of triremes, holding together in like manner the entire revolving vault." (Rep. X, 616 b,c)

Click Image to read about Carl Jung