Case

 

This is Pam Reynolds, an American singer songwriter who had serious brain surgery in 1991. She had an aneurysm on her brainstem, which entailed a very risky surgery. Doctors had to drain the blood out of her head, snip her aneurysm, and then bring her back to life. At the beginning of the surgery, the doctors taped her eyes shut and placed molded speakers in ears, which played very loud clicking sounds that they could use to determine her brain stem activity. Next Pam said she popped out of her own head and found herself looking down at her body on the operating table. She could see about 20 people and heard a drill sound and an electric toothbrush looking tool in the surgeon’s hand. She also heard a female voice say “Her arteries are too small” and another surgeon state “use the other side.”  Then, an article that discusses Pam’s experience states, ““Soon after, the surgeons began to lower her body temperature to 60 degrees. It was about that time that Reynolds believes she noticed a tunnel and bright light. She eventually flat-lined completely, and the surgeons drained the blood out of her head” During this time when Pam was very close to death, she said she could hear the song “Hotel California” playing.

However, Pam’s recollection of her experience is not enough for proof. A year after her surgery, Pam’s surgeon confirmed her account and even stated “From a scientific perspective, I have absolutely no explanation about how it could have happened” (Hagerty). It was confirmed that there were about 20 people in the room, there was a bone saw that looked like an electric toothbrush, there was a conversation about the size of the arteries in her leg, and the doctors were even listening to “Hotel California” just as Pam heard. It’s important to remember that Pam had her eyes taped shut and speakers in her ears, so there was no way for her to see or her these things. Nevertheless, Gerald Worlee, an Australian researcher and NDE debunker believes Reynolds experiences anesthesia awareness, which is when a patient is conscious but cannot move. Dr. Spetzler argued that her Pam’s brain was incapable of forming or retaining memories during most of her operation, so this disproves Worlee’s theory. Pam’s ability to recall and specific details about her NDE and OBE supports the presence of unexplainable attributes of these phenomena.

Hagerty, Barbara Bradley. “Decoding The Mystery Of Near-Death Experiences.” NPR, NPR, 22 May 2009, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104397005.