Experiencing Death: An Insider's Perspective 

As a nurse in a critical care area I was at a number of bedsides when patients "passed". In the middle of the night one sad patient went into cardiac arrest. A team arrived swiftly, she was given the traditional medications which strengthen heart function, intubated and connected to a machine to breath, jolted a number of times with increasing power... nothing. The ER doctor and I were resigned because this young woman was already in terrible health and by her own hand. She was a severe alcoholic with a very damaged liver. She lived on the streets in brutal weather surrounded by an unfeeling city. We had treated her a few times in the past... this was her last trip. I had a very new nurse under my wing that night. "Debbie" was a timid and nervous sort... at times I wondered why, for GOD'S SAKE she had chosen this kind of nursing. She was quite unnerved by this "code blue" but work is work. I instructed her in "death care" which was basically to clean the deceased, place in a paper shroud with a proper toe tag ID, and straighten the room in case the family arrived... not really expected in this case, though. Our sad young dead patient had long abandoned her friends and family. No one ever visited or called to ask her condition though we'd been caring for her a good long time. "Debbie" looked like she wanted to quit... hey, we ALL feel that way sometimes. But I handed her the "death pack" and literally shoved her towards the dark room. I, meanwhile, had to call the deceased's attending doctor to inform him of the ER doctor's death certification. No one wants to get a call at 2 am but the doc thanked me and then hung up to inform whomever was listed as the "next of kin". I put down the phone and started the endless paperwork. Twenty minutes passed and "Debbie" appeared behind me. I thought she had a question... she just stood there looking pop eyed. I actually had to shake her a bit to get her to talk. "She's NOT DEAD!!" "Debbie" was practically vibrating. Okay, "death care" is creepy. I told her to take a breath, sit down for a minute, and then GET THE DAMN JOB DONE!! But she wouldn't. She insisted that the patient was breathing. Right. People refer to it as a "death rattle" but the truth is very mundane. In a code, the lungs are much more inflated than in ordinary respiration. We're actually shoving air in under force. After death, the air is still present for quite a while and when you turn the person over, that air is forced up through the airway, producing what sometimes sounds like a gasp. But "Debbie" had my arm in a vise grip and she was dragging me into the darkened room. Alright, already! I marched "Debbie" up to the bedside. The patient was turned away so I took her shoulder and turned her flat. "NOW LOOK!" I directed "Debbie". And the deceased person opened her eyes and looked. I have NEVER been so shocked at anything as that. "Elaine" not only looked right at me but she blinked a few times. I stuttered something incredibly stupid like "How are you doing?" "Elaine" whispered clearly, "Okay". Oh shit. I ran out of the room like I was on fire and called the ER doc. I gave "Debbie" a savage look that directed her to stay with "Elaine" and very reluctantly she returned to the scene of our crime. HOW could we have missed this?!! While I was waiting on the phone, I was ripping through the chart looking for all the cardiac pattern printouts. There was NOTHING. The code had produced zero effect on the patient. There were forty minutes of what's called "agonal rhythm" otherwise known as "death throes" as the electrical function shuts down for the last time. NOTHING else. No breathing, no heart beat, and pupils non-reactive... in other words D.E.A.D. "What's up?" Yeah... BAD news doc. What do I do with an incorrect "time of death"? "WHAT THE HELL?!" He ran up to the ward with the same pants on fire urgency I had. Now, the two of us had to have a most unfortunate conversation about which of us got to call her attending doctor with this startling news. I refused. After all, HE filled out the death certificate. The attending was PISSED. Naturally, it was assumed that we had botched this and now HE had already notified the next-of-kin. They had to be UN-notified, so to speak. Ouch. What the hell were we supposed to do? This young woman was NOT a liver transplant candidate. Her system was in slow motion shut down for the weeks of her care. She had never regained consciousness after being found in an alley. There was no life path. None. I asked if we should try to start an IV or get O2 started. The ER doc was very kind and stood at the bedside asking "Elaine" if she wanted anything done. No. Nothing. We took turns sitting with her for the remainder of shift to monitor this startling situation. "Elaine" said she wished her family was there but I had no contact information beyond the "next-of-kin" and the phone number just rang without answer. Needless to say, this patient attracted A LOT of attention. People were respectful and quiet... "Elaine" didn't seem to mind. Then, they arrived. The family. "Elaine" did pass away later the next day. But the entire extended family and everyone who'd ever knew her it seemed waited patiently to sit with her. She talked with all of them but her strength was strained to the max and all visitors had to basically put their heads on the pillow next to her face as she whispered words of apologies and such. A funeral with a live guest of honor. Weird. When her time did come, she smiled at them all and closed her eyes with such a peaceful expression that it hushed the mob for what seemed an eternity. I've heard of Near Death Experiences. Perhaps it is just my desire to think it possible. But "Elaine" had been sent back for a mission. She got the job done. Clearly, she wanted to leave at the end. I never forgot her.

I'm glad the lady sharing her story is an educated surgeon........and they cannot treat her like she's uneducated.

I will never understand how these people think they can speak about NDE when they have never experienced one. The Scientists who have, know there is something bigger happening here.

Those who doubt simply have not been given the gift of experience, including the gracious doctors on this panel. Dr. Mary Neal is the most eloquent on this panel as she KNOWS.

“Wizards and castles...?” NO. He’s pissing me off with his pompousness.

Mr Kevin, I have proof that I died 11 minutes & 58 seconds. I have photos of my heart & medical papers. And that was in 2008! So, you are wrong. I also had a near death experience years before that. I went to Heaven, was healed. I still had to go to hospital both times, but did die & live again. GOD CAN & STILL PERFORMS MIRACLES!

When I dream, I usually will dream about people in my life that are alive. Sometimes, I will have a strong dream with my deceased sister in it. I think it's telling that people that have near death experiences seem to only report encountering people that have died. They don't say my living husband or living child was there guiding me into the light. This is a big difference between dreams and near death experiences.

Thank God! Finally a debate where people can have a discussion without insulting each other and while they may disagree can be totally civil about it and not resort to insulting the oppositions intelligence.

I've heard of cases of terminal lucidity where people in their last moments are able to remember the names and faces of family members that they could not before, and hold coherent conversations again. I'd imagine death is much the same. I see the brain as a filter for consciousness, not the producer of consciousness, so when it goes, your true consciousness can be experienced.

I believe consciousness exists beyond the brain.

The spirit leaving the body is not "faith", 15:41, it's fact. Proven, as in one case, by a patient who described a shoe on the roof of the hospital, at an inaccessible point, where she had not been; except during her out of body experience. Thus the finding, verified by the attending physician, was empirically verified. The whole point of NDEs is that the spirit is navigating the experience, in another dimension (thus seeing dead relatives; even those they didn't know existed i.e. siblings) spirit is not faith based. It is spirit.

The body, an ever changing sheath of energy, is destroyed and breaks off into its atomics while consciousness, not in time/space to begin with, continues.

i have never had nde . before i doubt there is such heaven and afterlife. but now i am 110% believer that there is life after death. i have read many testimonies from around the globe and im 100 percent convinced.

Maybe neurologist Kevin Nelson should have a talk with Neurosurgeon Eben Alexander.

Regardless of this debate on "clinical death" there have been people who came into operating rooms in cardiac arrest who had out of body experiences where the saw and later described detailed events in the hospital (such as staff coming into to a side room and posting a specific number of call-back post-it-notes on a board for the surgeon/ER doc to return. Those events were later confirmed by staff to have occurred exactly as described by the patient. The patient was never conscious on the operating table and even if they were they were not in a position to see what they described. Experiences like this were detailed by cardiologist Pim Van Lommel in his research.

Kevin is the kind of scientist that will never accept a theory he cannot measure. The brain function and the mind are separate. All you can measure is whether the brain has shut down,not where the mind(soul?) has gone.

someone , long ago , had the answer I like the best ; ) - “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” ― Marcus Aurelius

In order to fully understand a near death experience, you have to experience it first hand. It's beyond this physical plane. It feels like home, so much so that I liken it to walking in the desert for three days then finally getting a cool large glass of water. Most do not want to return. The love is like nothing on this planet. For reference it's like a mother falling in love with her newborn babe times ten. The light is undescribable, it is the brightest light ever seen, yet doesn't hurt your eyes. Communication, if you are greeted by other beings, and most are, is telepathic. This type of communication is much more efficient and concise. Is it real, a dream, a hallucination? NO. No exceptions. It is more authentic than your everyday life by far. Recall 20 yrs later is extremely detailed. Every cell in our body knows when death is approaching, when it is a slow death. I believe the consciousness governing each of these cells holds the NDE memory as well, not the brain. Scientists: check into that "JUNK" DNA again. The physical pain is gone. Many people have had more than one NDE in this lifetime. Upon return, many people experience an absolute change in perspectives which is commonly noted as a change in personality. They return with fully developed extra sensory abilities..... NDEs live in the space where science and spirituality meet. Hope this helps.

Kevin doesn't answer any hard question that is thrown at him and instead uses a politician's tactic of answer the question he wants. His avoidance of directly answering the questions show fearfulness or a discomfort with disclosures or transparency. He is alone in this panel in doing this repeatedly. This gives him the least credibility here among all other speakers regardless of their points of view.

I had a really difficult time listening to the smirking neurologist with his patronizing, sanctimonious remarks about Elvis and half open eye lids to explain how people having NDE out of body experiences can see/hear things going on in other parts of the hospital and relay those conversations/actions later when they've been brought back.

It is only once you have had a personal experience, as I have, that the mind is truly opened on this kind of topic.

I believe knowing the nature of consciousness has the potential to change everything.

I had an out of body/near death experience. What I gathered from that, you experience what you believe or lean toward from all the life experiences you've had. At the time, what I believed or thought about death once you died, your spirit would rest in your grave until the day of the rapture because that is what I was taught in Sunday school. Funny thing happened in my experience, my spirit was lying down behind my body that was sitting upright. I could see the back of the top of my head peaking out above the passenger seat. To the left in the driver's seat, I could see my friend at the time, facing me, crying. I couldn't hear anything. I could just observe. I felt nothing. No emotions about what I was witnessing. Without any outside prompts, or even wanting to, my spirit sat back up inside my body and then I became aware of my body and my other senses worked again. My friend had been crying because she thought for sure I was dead because there was no response from me for what seemed like over 5 minutes. I believe that my bodily functions ceased and somehow started again. I cannot say which happened first, body function working first, then spirit reuniting or, reuniting spirit with body causing body functions to return? From the experience, it felt like the later of the two. I can't be sure except to say that "I" was separate from my body. I believe what the lady was saying, it seems to me, death is when your spirit leaves the body.

Dr Eben Alexander should be included in this panel.

some truths are beyond the ego and doctors are full of ego.

Ppl like 'neurologist' Kevin Nelson are proof that no amount of education or experience can produce intelligence,common sense in the individual, let alone result in useful knowledge. He went around in circles for over an hour, not once did he or anyone else on the panel bring up & discuss (give explanations for or against) the fact that many of these NDE'ers give detailed accurate descriptions of what was going on NOT just in that same room or building, BUT in another part of town miles away.

The reason why athiest also have nde is because it dont matter if you believe it to be true to be true.

Sam Parnia is such an incredible Dr.

I had a life review, i was only 8 and never knew about it, nor was programmed with anything before hand.

I used to be of the scientific atheistic mind, but I can honestly say that science is so far behind we'd never get to know who we really are if left to them.

Just like the old saying , I once saw My entire Life flash before My eyes in a fraction of a second. Every thing I had ever said , thought , or felt. It was not like a deja' vu where you forget , and then doubt the experience a few minutes after. This was when I was around twelve yrs. old. I almost fell off of a hundred foot high bridge. It was incredible.

I am still researching and need to prove to myself that NEDs are absolutely real. One question I have from scientists who doesn't belive in life after death is if NEDs are created by brain, why all of the experiences are almost the same and are spiritual and not about other subjects?

Kevin needs to speak to Eben Alexander, a highly respected neurosurgeon who was not a believer either prior to his experience.

NO MR NELSON, THERE AREN'T ALOT OF WAYS TO EXPLAIN HOW BRAIN DEAD INDIVIDUALS CAN TELL PRECISLY TELL WHAT HAPPENED 200 MILES AWAY TO THEIR BROTHER AT A CERTAIN TIME, OR DOWN THE HALL, OR ON ANOTHER FLOOR OR BEHIND A VEIL ! AND IF OUR BRAIN CELLS START TO ERUPT THEN WHAT KIND OF COHERENT THOUGHT TAKES PLACE THEN ?

Only those who had nde would understand! It's for real. I know mine was.

Trying to prove a NDE or an OBE is like trying to prove Love. The only data that I see missing here is the countless NDE's people come forth and report. Not one person who's reported having a NDE says they are not real. But many people who've never had the experience of a NDE will tell you that they are NOT real. funny how that works.

I had a near death experience. I saw myself floating upward into the heavens. I was being called by my grandma. I remember I felt blissful. I was so happy. I was going to join my grandma. It was a warm feeling. Suddenly I heard the words "you're not ready". Immediately I was slammed down back to earth. I woke up with strangers hovering over me.

I hate this Kevin character so much. He's a villain. He makes these condescending faces that immediately discredit his contribution to the discussion (2nd guy from the right)

I'm all for science and empirical evidence but it's important to have an open mind when you can't prove that is real but you can't prove that is not real either.

Ok, so the reason why we see in there dimensions and why we hear people talk in other rooms is because our eye lids are half opened during cardiac arrest. Who let that half wit on that panel?

Sam's input should have been solicited much more than it was. Sam's research in this subject is at the forefront. Kevin's is not. He's simply just a neurosurgeon and a skeptic. Why does Kevin get most of the speaking time. He should not.

46:28 busted ! It's amazing how people can deny reality because it is in conflict with their belief. This guy is clining to an obvious false fact because it's the last thing that can save him from admitting his worldview is wrong.

"For millennia, human beings have wondered what happens when we die." Is it possible to test it closer? " Yes, but we can't get funding and it is unethical " The 2 most important questions imo, is what happens when we die and if we are alone in the universe. I am sure there are heaps of people in palliative care who would jump at the opportunity to help solve one of those questions for science. I know i would. But hey, let's just continue to spend billions around the world to figure out new ways to kill eachother.. The world is truly messed up.

There are many aspects of our existence which I believe science just can not cover due to the very nature of what science is.

I also did not want to come back when i died.

One of the best panel discussions I've heard. Great moderating, high quality panel, respectful and insightful discourse.

Unless you're in a shit ton of pain, I say avoid death at all costs.

People like Kevin Nelson should participate in his field of interest, here people keep an open mind even if they lack experience.

Whether it is a NDE or an OBE it proves that soul or consciousness does leave the body.

When a baby is born still, not living, The baby in my view did not receive a spirit!. A spirit is that spark of life that makes people alive.

Those who will not listen, can not hear. What an ego this Mr. Nelson has. What he knows is his truth and he refuses to believe anything else.

One of the good physicians (who holds the NDE as a "physiological" experienceshould recall the growth of the human fetus. Long before a brain begins to formfrom primitive cells, there is a heart beating in the fetus. Did the non-existent braincause the heart to beat? The answer is that consciousness is not an aspect of the human body. It is far beyond that. Consciousness is also not limited to this dimension.

I experienced a death and obe. I was in the room watching my infanticidal mother hold my lifeless body . There was a pale tall dark clothed person? Who seemed to be waiting . Only visible to me .

I think the reason why there are cultural differences in the NDE experience is because a familiar place or experience would be far far greater and more profound than somthing that doesn't feel like 'home' it has to be true to who you are.

Mary Neal is the only one worth listening too.

Kevin: "when you speak to human experience you are speaking about the brain." The problem with this statement is that the very science he is representing has come nowhere close to providing evidence that this is true. There is in fact much evidence to support the idea of non locality of the mind. The research done to indicate this, despite having been peer reviewed and published is often referred to as "woo", known as the battle cry of the materialist experiencing cognitive dissonance

It's strangely funny how people that actually have OBEs directly or indirectly, can understand and explain them better than scientists & neurologists.

According to the law of conservation of energy, energy neither be created nor be destroyed but just transformed from one form to another. I lost my father today but i know that not a bit of him is lost. He is just less orderly. His consciousness cease to exist. This scientific perspective on death made me accept that death isn't something to be feared but just an inevitable part of life.

I believe this body is just a vessel that houses the real us, a spirit made of light and knowledge and God. With our own individual personality. And when the body dies we shed it and step into eternity. Where everything is more real then anything in this physical world.

Kevin "know-it-all" Nielsen isn’t the only person with a degree in the room. He should let others voice their experiences. He can’t explain why so many who come back from physical, mental & spiritual departing from the body or death have their lives, their opinions, their tastes & even their spiritual beliefs completely changed. And this has happened to people who were anywhere from nominally religious to staunch atheists. Many "experts" will take a point of view based on their own religious prejudices so as to FIT their personal prejudices against God.

I been out of my flesh it is real and amazing

why do so many NDE shows have to have a skeptic on it to argue everything? its kind of annoying and not necessary and he is dead wrong pun intended. asking his opinion is like asking someones opinion of India who has never traveled there.

Consciousness is not contained solely within the brain.

Why don't you put together the neurologist to debate with Eben Alexander, renowned academic neurosurgeon, who happened to experienced a NDA. I Would love to see that!!!

The experiences of people like the lovely spine surgeon are happening all over the world. Trying to concentrate on a scientist explaining and linking rem sleep somehow sounded like a clanging cymbal. Science/spirituality as a joint approach must be the new frontier.

The neurologist is going to have such a surprise when he dies.

The brain "flatlines" about 3 seconds after the heart "flatlines". What does that mean? It means that the patient is dead: not almost dead, but dead!

Mary says she remembers her NDE, just as so many others have, as if it happening in the present tense, not as a memory or recollection from the past. This makes me wonder if this has something to do with being outside of time-- b/c once ur out of the 3rd dimension & out of ur body, no longer in the physical plane, ur outside of time... & being that linear time is just a human construct created to reduce entropy, everything is actually happening all @ once.....past , present & future are all one.

The lady spoke "Truth ", that word "Science" needs to be held in check. SCIENCE Is NOT ALL THAT IS, ONLY TRUTH "IS"!!!

what part of " seeing through walls " did the guy miss.

Looks like it’s the blue light and no reception for Kevin😄, shame. I have also had an experience somewhat similar to those spoken of here. Whilst in my bathroom and about to take a shower the much talked about radiant light appeared before me and the overwhelming, all encompassing love enveloped me. The experience lasted maybe a couple of minutes. I was not ill, was in a great place in my life, did not faint and had never heard of such experiences before. During the event I felt completely ‘at one’ with everything. The event completely changed my life. Incidentally I was in no way religious prior to the event and am still not however I would now describe myself as deeply spiritual. Mary’s point about her event being completely different do any other experience she has ever had is something I can completely connect with. I believe that during these events the ego is dropped and there is no judgement of the event leaving only the truth of what happened. When I recall this story to people it is as if the event was happening now despite it being some 5 years ago. The sense of realism is as fresh today as it was then. In many ways it was the most real thing I have ever experienced. Just an observation of the participants in this discussion. 3 of the 4 guests have a quality about them which is relaxed, still and courteous throughout. 1 is quite different however. Their body language is far more animated and at times they even smirk almost to the point of laughing at the others comments. These are all signs of the ego, something which lessens with spiritual maturity. I appreciate that this video was uploaded some time ago however Eben Alexander’s A Neurosurgeons Journey Through the Afterlife addresses the issue of wether consciousness exists when the brain is completely dead. Very entertaining video. Thank you.

This conversation was diminished by Kevin, whose contribution was disproportionate. He also talked over Mary in a typically sexist manner.

It's amazing the sh*^e some people talk when they are determined to disprove NDE accounts.

I would like to speak to these people and give my testimony of what I experienced because mine was not the stereotypical experience at all. I also have experienced a coma, many out of body experiences and various other things they speak of and none of these were what I experienced when I died.

Its understandable why the interviewer focused on Kevin's opinions so much... the other panelists pretty much agreed with each other while presenting variety of point of views but Kevin was the skeptic among them presenting the materialistic interpretation of these experiences. It was an interesting discussion.

I like Dr Sam Parnia so much.

That Kevin person is very condescending all he can talk about is rem dreaming. He is entitled to his opinion though, but to the people who have these experience it is very real I think it depends on your beliefs at the time you die, as to what happens when you cross over. I do believe in a life after death, scientists I think can't prove or disprove weather consciousness survives after death

The Pam Reynold's case shows the brain being removed from the equation and she knew things she could not have known whilst effectively dead....

This woman's story is what i believe.

Kevin Nelson does not adequately explain the phenomenon of being able to report what was being said in another room. He totally sidesteps it by suggesting that the supposed physiological response of eyes opening during cardiac arrest (which Sam Parnia denies as being commonplace) could allow for people in that state to see things that one might assume they could not see in that state. In other words, he can't explain the original phenomenon so he won't even talk about it. I see this all the time with skeptics! One more point: he drags out C Sagan's "extraordinary claims" quote (upon being asked what it would take to convince him that consciousness is not a product of the brain) as if it is the ultimate silencer of any claims that run contrary to the materialist assumptions of the modern day scientific paradigm, but what he ultimately fails to acknowledge (as do most skeptics that rely on that quote) is that 'extraordinary' is an unscientific term that means different things to different people. I don't feel that a reasonable human being could deny that what Mary Neal experienced and talks about so eloquently here is absolutely extraordinary...yet personally I'm not convinced that the NDE can be fairly evaluated using current scientific methods. So what I almost wish he'd admit is that there will never be evidence to satisfy him.

Life after death could very well be defined as an eternal dream state. We get a 'taste' of 'heaven' each night when we dream. May be why we tend to forget our dreams so quickly upon waking.

Why is it that people who have near death experiences always see people who have passed away and never see people who are still alive?

The most salient issue was only discussed for a minute or two: verifiably accurate evidence. What about Pam Reynolds and Al Sullivan's accurate reporting while their eyes were covered! Even their doctors vouched for their testimony. Why is this not pressed????

I love Peter Fenwick. I've got his book The Art of Dying. Brilliant book. The lady's NDE is amazing too.

Dr Mary is the only honest one on this panel. The rest are so condescending. I’m very grateful that my physician is not this full of himself

I have not had an NDE but have had very many out of body experiences, and none of them took place during syncope (fainting) I must say, Kevin's dismissive smirking in the background, about anything with which his version of reality doesn't agree, almost seems like a kind of nervousness...

I wish I could talk to these people because I have been having OBEs since childhood and now I am 62 years old and boy oh boy do I have some interesting experiences to share about some of my weird experiences with space and time while being out of my body.

This dude does a piss poor job explaining knowing what is said in other rooms when you're under cardiac arrest

Bye bye kevin ..........................you're stuck in the prison of the material paradigm .

all the Dr's here...with the exception of The Dr Kevin ?...forgot his name lol....Seem to be very knowledgeable about the topic in this discussion.....The Dr. Sam....was the most believable from his experience & knowledge. The woman Dr and English Dr were fascinating to listen to as well. However the Dr Kevin from Kentucky seemed to be trying to take up the whole program with a lot of medical jargon that didn't seem to focus on the discussion????? Other than that...great!

Couldn't listen past 16:20 or so when the guy wearing a sweatshirt under his jacket started getting rude with Mary.

The eldest man is the WISEST listen to him

I knew a guy, that woke up in a body bag. He was hit by an 18 wheeler, on a motorcycle.

The proof is not just the people that have had the "near death experiences", BUT those who did not, and had experiences prior to learning of a loved ones death, those can not be explained. What about when we have experiences (signs) that can not be explained after our loved one has passed? How can that be explained? There is more to us than some want to admit, more than some of us realize, we don't really know ourselves like some would like us to believe. ~peace to all

How does Kevin explain the out of body experiences in which the patient accurately sees things from a vantage point above the events?? Does he really think it's lucid dreaming?? Does he not know the difference between dreaming and reality?

I am kind of sick of all those "scientist" who belive to know everything.. they are guessing about everything all the time....they dont even know how to cure cancer but they seem to know how eternity works...

Nelson is a great example of someone trying to explain speculative make it up as you go along baseless bull, people will presume because of his qualifications he is talking some known facts, he isn’t, he’s basically scraping the barrel with he’s imagination.

You guys need to watch Michael Newtons program after his 30 + years of research.

Isn't Dr. Pim van Lommel's research the gold standard with regard to objective study of NDEs?

Why should they be the same? "Normal life" is extremely different for each of us.