Pam Reynolds' NDE

Pam Reynolds (stage name) from Atlanta, Georgia is an American singer-songwriter. In 1991, at the age of 35, she had a near-death experience (NDE) during a brain operation. Her NDE is one of the most notable and best documented in NDE research because of the unusual circumstances under which it happened. Reynolds was under close medical monitoring during the entire operation. During part of the operation she had no brain-wave activity and no blood flowing in her brain, which left her clinically dead. She made several observations about the procedure which later were confirmed by medical personnel as surprisingly accurate.

Diagnosis and operation

A cat scan revealed that Reynolds had a large artery aneurysm in her brain, close to the brain stem. Because of the difficult position of the aneurysm Dr. Robert Spetzler of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona decided that an unusual surgical procedure, hypothermic cardiac arrest, had to be performed. During this procedure, also known as standstill, her body temperature was lowered to 60 °F (16 °C), her breathing and heartbeat were stopped and the blood was drained from her head. Her eyes were closed with tape. Small ear plugs with speakers were plugged in her ears. These speakers emitted audible clicks which were used to check the function of the brain stem.

For a brief period in the middle of the procedure, she had a flat EEG, a non-responsive brain stem and no blood in her brain. The operation was a success and Reynolds recovered completely.

NDE part 1

During the operation but prior to her being put in cardiac arrest, Reynolds later reports hearing a sound like a natural 'D'. The sound seems to pull her out of her body. Then she is floating around in the operating room and watches the doctors performing the operation. She feels more aware than normal and her vision is more focused and clearer than normal vision. She makes several observations, for example:
*She notices the doctor using a drill to open her skull. It surprises her that it looks like an electric toothbrush, not like a saw as she expects. It is later confirmed that the drill used by the doctor was similar in appearance to an electric toothbrush.
*She hears a female voice say, "We have a problem. Her arteries are too small." It is later confirmed that the doctors first tried to connect the heart-lung machine to the right leg. But the arteries are too small so they switched to the left leg.

These examples appear to show that she was able to see and hear during the operation.

NDE part 2

At some point during the operation she notices a presence. Then she is pulled towards a light. As she gets closer the light becomes very bright. She begins to discern figures in the light, including her grandmother, an uncle, other deceased relatives and people unknown to her.

The longer she is there, the more she is enjoying it. But at some point in time she is reminded that she has to go back. Her uncle brings her back to her body. When she looks at her body she doesn't want to go back in. Her uncle tries to persuade her, but she keeps refusing. Then she sees her body making a jump (caused by the defibrillation to start up her heart). Her uncle gives her a push and she is back in her body.

Timeline

The following timeline is based on the book "Light & Death" from Michael Sabom. It shows that the total surgery lasted about 7 hours and the standstill took less than 1 hour. The events in the operating room that Reynolds was able to recall (the surgeon using a drill on her skull and a female voice saying her veins are too small) happened before the standstill. The entire part 1 of the NDE happened before the standstill. Part 2 of the NDE happened during and/or after the standstill.

Critical

Pam Reynolds' NDE is sometimes seen as evidence of the survival hypothesis. Critics have brought forward several points which attempt to refute this interpretation:

* When Reynolds heard someone say her veins were too small, medical personnel were apparently still connecting her to the heart-lung machine. At this point she was merely under general anesthesia (which can quite often fail to render a patient completely unconscious as well as causing dysphoric effects including confusion about ones position in their body). [cite journal |last=Augustine |first=Keith |title=Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences? |url=http://apt.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1043%2F0891-4494%282007%2925%5B203%3ADPPOIN%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Journal of Near-Death Studies |volume=25 |issue=4 |year=2007 |month=Summer |pages=203–236, pages 220–21 |issn=0891-4494 |doi=10.1043/0891-4494(2007)25 [203:DPPOIN] 2.0.CO;2 |doilabel=10.1043/0891-4494(2007)25[203:DPPOIN]2.0.CO;2 ] This appears to show that her supposed Near "Death" Experience began hours before she even "died," and indeed if the second part of the operation had been called off for some reason, many of the supposed "death" experiences would have happened even though all she was subjected to were anesthetic drugs. [cite journal |last=Augustine |first=Keith |title='Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences?' Defended |url=http://apt.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1043%2F0891-4494%282007%2925%5B261%3ADPPOIN%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Journal of Near-Death Studies |volume=25 |issue=4 |year=2007 |month=Summer |pages=261–283, page 280 |issn=0891-4494 |doi=10.1043/0891-4494(2007)25 [261:DPPOIN] 2.0.CO;2 |doilabel=10.1043/0891-4494(2007)25[261:DPPOIN]2.0.CO;2 ]
* EEG monitoring is not 100% reliable. Sometimes the brain has activity that is not registered by the equipment.
* Ear plugs do not block all external sounds. People with ear plugs may still be able to hear sounds in their environment. [cite web |last=Woerlee |first=Gerald M. |title=Pam Reynolds' Near Death Experience |url=http://www.mortalminds.woerlee.org/reynolds.html |accessdate = 2007-11-28 ]
* She may have had the claimed experiences before or after the standstill, when she was merely under general anesthesia and the brain was still active. [cite journal |last=Augustine |first=Keith |title='Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences?' Defended |url=http://apt.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1043%2F0891-4494%282007%2925%5B261%3ADPPOIN%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Journal of Near-Death Studies |volume=25 |issue=4 |year=2007 |month=Summer |pages=261–283, page 280 |issn=0891-4494 ]
* Proponents have generally misrepresented the amount of time which Reynolds was flatlined [cite journal |last=Augustine |first=Keith |title=Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences? |url=http://apt.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1043%2F0891-4494%282007%2925%5B203%3ADPPOIN%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Journal of Near-Death Studies |volume=25 |issue=4 |year=2007 |month=Summer |pages=203–236, page 217 |issn=0891-4494 |doi=10.1043/0891-4494(2007)25 [203:DPPOIN] 2.0.CO;2 |doilabel=10.1043/0891-4494(2007)25[203:DPPOIN]2.0.CO;2 ] : the actual surgical timeline suggests that her brain stem activity was fully flatlined for a period of only five to six minutes at most [cite journal |last=Sabom |first=Michael B. |title=Commentary on 'Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences?' |url=http://apt.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1043%2F0891-4494%282007%2925%5B257%3ACODPPO%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Journal of Near-Death Studies |volume=25 |issue=4 |year=2007 |month=Summer |pages=257–260, pages 257–58 |issn=0891-4494 |doi=10.1043/0891-4494(2007)25 [257:CODPPO] 2.0.CO;2 |doilabel=10.1043/0891-4494(2007)25[257:CODPPO]2.0.CO;2 ] , and there is no evidence that she retained memories or experiences during this particular period, as opposed to the rest of the several-hours long surgery. Her experiences before and after the standstill could have felt coherent regardless: loss of consciousness would not necessarily have interrupted the hallucinations. Most people do not experience or remember "gaps" between being awake, dreams, and awaking again. [cite journal |last=Augustine |first=Keith |title='Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences?' Defended |url=http://apt.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1043%2F0891-4494%282007%2925%5B261%3ADPPOIN%5D2.0.CO%3B2 |journal=Journal of Near-Death Studies |volume=25 |issue=4 |year=2007 |month=Summer |pages=261–283, page 280 |issn=0891-4494 ]

Books

* ISBN 0310219922 "Light and Death" by the founder of The Atlanta Study, Dr. Michael Sabom, about the case of Pam Reynolds and nearly 50 other cases.

Notes and references

External links

Asserting the importance of this NDE:
* [http://www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence01.html People Have NDEs While Brain Dead]
* [http://www.iamshaman.com/reports/article.asp?faq=13&fldAuto=79 Beyond Brain Death by Pam Reynolds]
* [http://www.ianlawton.com/nde2.htm Additional Analysis of the Pam Reynolds Case]
* [http://www.geocities.com/pamreynoldsus/ Home page of Pam Reynolds]

Doubting that the NDE happened during the standstill:
* [http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/keith_augustine/HNDEs.html#pam Hallucinatory Near-Death Experiences Section on Pam Reynolds]
* [http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=7999&page=10&post=#386 Discussion about Pam Reynolds NDE on randi.org, including important quotes from "Light and Death"]
* [http://www.mortalminds.woerlee.org/reynolds.html Pam Reynolds Near Death Experience]