داستان انگلیسی تجربه ی نزدیک به مرگ

Near Death Experience

Even though it is a morbid topic, the concept of death is something that people can’t help but think about. Everyone on this earth will die at some point in time, no matter what they do to try and prolong their life. Since death is permanent though, no one can actually describe what it feels like to die.

There’s an exception to that, however. Many people on this earth have had what is known as a Near Death Experience, or NDE. An NDE is a phenomenon experienced by people who have come very close to dying. Usually, they will experience things they can’t explain, or that seem to be scientifically impossible.

Some scientists are very interested in the NDE phenomenon, although studying it has proven difficult. Any evidence that can be presented is anecdotal at best from the people who experienced the NDE. Because of this, none of their claims can be scientifically confirmed. Still, their experiences are enough for scientists to create theories about what might be going on.

Take Pam, for example. Pam was a singer and songwriter from Atlanta, who one day started feeling off. She was dizzy, couldn’t speak, and had difficulty moving her body. Pam went to the hospital for a CAT scan, and it turned out she had a giant artery aneurysm. It was a swollen blood vessel near her brain stem. The blood vessel could burst any time, at the drop of a hat. If it burst, Pam would die.

The surgery that could remove it though, also might kill her. Pam felt completely out of options.

In desperation, she chose a treatment from neurosurgeon, Robert Spetzler. It was a new and daring procedure he called Operation Standstill. Spetzler would bring Pam’s body temperature down low enough so she would be technically dead. Her heart would stop and her brain wouldn’t function, but at this lower temperature she could survive longer without oxygen. In addition to lowering her temperature, they would also drain all the blood from her body during the procedure.

Pam agreed to die under the doctor’s supervision to save her life. What she wasn’t expecting is that she would be able to observe the whole procedure, as if she were watching from the corner of the room.

After she was given general anesthesia, Pam lost consciousness. The doctors attached EEG electrodes to track the activity of her brain’s cerebral cortex. Then Dr. Spetzler brought out a tool - a special surgical saw - and cut through Pam’s skull. The saw made a noise just like a dentist’s drill.

At one point during the procedure, a female surgeon was having trouble locating Pam’s femoral artery. She said to the doctor “We have a problem. Her arteries are too small.” The doctor replied, “Try the other side.”

Shortly after this, Pam’s temperature dropped low enough for her to be considered dead. They continued with their procedure, and less than two hours later, brought Pam back to life. The surgery was a success.

When Pam woke up, she described the experience. Even though she was unconscious at the beginning of the procedure, she had observed it from outside of her body. She described the sound of the drill accurately. She also recalled the conversation about her arteries being too small, word for word.

Even more interesting though, was the NDE she had once she died in the operating room. She remembers floating out of the operating room and down a tunnel. She met dead friends and relatives in this tunnel. She described the place she was in as warm and full of loving light. She recalls the experience ending abruptly. Her deceased uncle led her back to her body and back to life. She remembers the returning to her body as feeling like plunging into a pool of ice.

While no one can prove what Pam says she experienced, her EEG records support her claims. Pam is far from the only person to have had an experience like this either. There’s also Maria, a migrant worker who had a heart attack while visiting friends in Seattle. She was rushed to the hospital and went into the intensive care unit. After a few days, she had a cardiac arrest, but was brought back to life by the doctors. The next day, Maria told her doctors she was able to watch them work on her body, as if she were watching from the ceiling.

She also described leaving the hospital room while they were operating on her. She described a tennis shoe she saw on the third floor ledge of the north building. She described the tennis shoe very accurately. She said one of the laces was underneath the heel, and the toe area was slightly worn.

The doctors initially dismissed her claims, but she begged them to check if the shoe was there.

Her skeptical doctor went to the third floor ledge and found the tennis shoe. It was also in exactly the position and condition Maria described. These details were not visible from Maria’s room. She would have had to have been much closer to see them accurately. The doctor couldn’t explain it scientifically. He admitted though, the only way for her to have known is if she had been floating right above the shoe.

Just like with Pam, Maria being in cardiac arrest meant that the flow of blood to the brain was interrupted. This induces a state of deep coma, where people are expected to have no clear or lucid mental experiences. Studies have shown, though, that 15% of cardiac arrest survivors have some sort of recollection of the experience.

Many people, who have never experienced an NDE, are skeptical of their authenticity. NDEs have been recorded from people of all walks of life, though. It happens to people regardless of their age, religion, gender or cultural beliefs.

While NDEs happen to all sorts of people, their psychological profiles tend to become similar after the experience. Their beliefs, values and worldviews are comparable afterwards. They tend to appreciate and enjoy life more richly. Pim van Lommel is a NDE researcher. He says these life changes don’t usually happen after hallucinations or other imaginary experiences. Life changes that happen after NDE experiences also become more apparent as time passes after the experience.

He believes this to mean that a transformation is taking place because of the NDE. It is believed that what happens during an NDE gives a person the perspective to perceive reality differently. They no longer depend fully on the sense of the physical body. They become more reliant on the sense of what is being called ‘mindsight’ - the ability to perceive reality through the mind’s instinct instead of through the physical world or body.

This suggests that mind and consciousness are not the results of brain activity alone. As the brain is inactive at the time of these experiences, the mind and consciousness is acting independently.

What do you think? Is there a difference between the mind and the brain? Can consciousness be separated from brain activity? Scientists hope to uncover more concrete answers to this highly philosophical question very soon.