NDEs are medically inexplicable: Long excerpt #4

Radiation oncologist Jeremy Long writes in his article, "Evidence for Survival of Consciousness in Near-Death Experiences: Decades of Science and New Insights" - Near-death experiences, by their very definition, occur at a time of unconsciousness and even clinical death with an absent heartbeat. Speaking both medically and logically, having a highly lucid experience while unconscious or clinically dead should be impossible. However, thousands of NDEs describe lucid conscious perceptions even while comatose.

Near-death experiences often occur in association with a cardiac arrest, which means the heart stops beating. This condition is popularly known by the phrase “heart attack”. To understand how remarkable it is to have an NDE at a time of clinical death, it is essential to know what happens when the heart stops beating. After the heart stops, blood immediately ceases flowing to the brain. About ten to twenty seconds later, the electroencephalogram (EEG), a measurement of brain electrical activity, is flat.  At this time there is no significant measurable electrical activity in the cortex, which is the outer part of the brain. Multiple studies show that patients are usually amnesic or confused about events that took place before or after the cardiac arrest.

Consequently, almost immediately after cardiac arrest, it should be impossible to have a lucid, organized, and conscious experience. But when a near-death experience occurs, a lucid experience happens even while physical brain function is shut down. The NDERF website has hundreds of examples of NDEs that happened during a cardiac arrest. The typical high lucidity in NDEs following cardiac arrest defies any possible medical explanation. Here are two examples of NDEs that occurred at the time of a cardiac arrest:

Joan had a spinal anesthetic for surgery on her ankle. There were complications, and she coded, which means her heart stopped. Joan describes her near-death experience:

I went from being in my body to being in a place of absolute love. I can only describe it like being in a swimming pool, but even my body was filled with this loving. I was one with this place, but also apart from it. I was still me, but I was far more than me. I was one with everything - and it was ALL good. I did hear beautiful music, but it wasn't like our music. The music itself was part of me, but I don't think I was singing. It was more like it was just part of me, and I was part of it, but it was much more than just me. I felt weightless and free - absolutely free. I was enfolded in this loving and was part of it too. There was not one single part of me or part of anything else that was not love. Individuals did not exist in the same way as we do here. I was still me, but I was also part of the loving. 

 

I KNEW things without hearing a single spoken word. I WAS love. I KNEW that all religions had it wrong. There is no way rules and judgment could flow from this place. Earthly religions made it complicated when it was very easy. There is only love, and all of us are part of it. There is NO way that we cannot be loved. We ARE love. Time did not exist. I have always loved my family on earth, but I did not miss them. I did not think of them. I was more joyful than I ever have been. I felt utterly connected to everything and everyone. We ARE inter-connected as one. There is no such thing as 'death'. This experience has changed me.

Another example of a near-death experience occurring at the time of a cardiac arrest is from Yazmine. Her heart stopped for six minutes. She received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which brought her back to life. After recovering, she shared her remarkable NDE:

Then suddenly I was above my body, which was lying on a stretcher bed and wearing a white hospital gown. I looked at my body and knew it wasn't the real me. It was the thing I had been caught inside. Now I was free! I felt such happiness! The joy was all- pervading. We like to get knotted up about the real-world pain, suffering, and loss, but they are all illusory experiences.

Everything became clear to me. The nurses were calling my name. One nurse was crying, and another was saying, ''Oh my God, we've lost her!" I was above them thinking how silly it was that they were making all that fuss. I wondered why they couldn't see me. I just knew that all was perfectly fabulous! Then I saw an open window about 6 inches wide. I thought, ''Wow, I wonder if I can fit through there?" Then instantly I was in another state.

Near-death experiencers (NDErs) are unconscious, comatose, or clinically dead. However, the lucidity they experience is usually a state of supernormal consciousness. The most recent NDERF survey asked 834 NDErs, “How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness?”

654 NDErs (78%) confirmed they experienced: “More consciousness and alertness than normal.” 142 (17%) experienced: “Normal consciousness and alertness.” And 38 (5%) experienced: “Less consciousness and alertness than normal.” 

Jeffrey Long, MD, "Evidence for Survival of Consciousness in Near-Death Experiences: Decades of Science and New Insights." In the next several posts I will share excerpts from Long's 2021 article. Footnotes have been deleted. The complete text is available as a pdf at https://www.nderf.org.