10 Real Life Near-Death Experiences in the Press & Media: Global Evidence of the Near-Death Read Online Free PDF Page A

sound like a dentist’s drill which reminded her of the handle on her electric toothbrush. This drill had a dent at the top where the saw connected to the handle and which had interchangeable blades which were then put in what looked like a socket wrench case.  She said she heard it whirl into action but didn’t see where it was being used.  How could Pam see and hear such things when her eyes were taped shut and her ears were plugged with speakers emitting clicking sounds?
     
    As Dr Spetzler continued the procedure a female cardiac surgeon located the femoral artery and vein in Pam’s right groin which appeared to be too small to take the large flow of blood from the heart-lung machine.  The surgeon therefore prepared the left femoral artery and vein for use.  Pam said afterwards that she overheard a female voice saying that her veins and arteries were very small and Dr Spetzler (she thought) say, ‘Use the other side.’
     
    The operation continued and the heart-lung machine was connected to Pam’s body, her blood was cooled down to 60˚F (16˚C) and once cardiac arrest was complete and the brain stem no longer responded to the clicks from the ear speakers, they knew that the brain had shut down. Clinically, she was dead. The heart-lung machine was therefore disconnected and the blood was drained from her head. The second part of Pam’s experience is thought to have begun around this point.
     
    Pam said she felt like she was being pulled – but she wanted to be pulled – through a tunnel into a bright light.  Very early on in the tunnel Pam said she heard her dead grandmother calling her towards the light and so she moved towards it with no fear.  She said she saw and spoke to some deceased relatives and friends who were all surrounded in light – in fact Pam felt as if she was sitting in the middle of a light bulb - but it was her grandmother and an uncle who prevented her from moving any further forward into the light.  They explained that she needed to retrace her steps and that she could not go on any further because if she did, she would not be able to get back into her own body.
     
    The operation continued and the aneurysm had been deflated and removed.  The heart-lung machine had been put back on and Pam began to receive warm blood back into her body. 
     
    Her brain stem started to respond again to the clicks from the ear speakers.  The EEG screen started to show electrical movement from her brain.  It is possible that as this was happening, and as Pam later reported, her grandmother and uncle were feeding her with ‘sparkly’ things and she felt that she was being made strong.
     
    A ventricular fibrillation (a heartbeat irregularity – which can be fatal) problem then occurred which necessitated two paddles being placed on Pam’s chest.  Her heart had to be ‘shocked’ twice but this fortunately resolved the issue and the situation was stabilised. 
     
    Pam’s journey continued as she said that her uncle took her back through the tunnel.  Part of her wanted to go back as she needed to look after her children but when she saw her body she initially said she didn’t want to return to it as it looked dead and she was frightened.  Then she noticed that her body made a jump (possibly caused by the defibrillation to start up her heart).  Her uncle seemed to push her, the tunnel seemed to push her and her body seemed to pull her.  She dived into what she said felt like a pool of ice water.
     
    As Pam’s body temperature climbed to 90˚F (32˚C) and the heart-lung machine was turned off, music in the background began to play and Pam regained consciousness.  She made a full recovery.
     
    Naturally, as she began to come round from the ordeal of what turned out to be about a seven hour operation; Pam initially assumed that she had been hallucinating.  However, Michael Sabom, who is a cardiologist in Atlanta and who researches near-death experiences, had with Pam’s permission, got