1
00:00:04,173 --> 00:00:07,176
[musical swirl]

2
00:00:11,138 --> 00:00:11,805
[water drop]

3
00:00:11,930 --> 00:00:14,141
[crackle]

4
00:00:14,266 --> 00:00:15,684
[rockslide]

5
00:00:15,809 --> 00:00:18,854
[musical tone]

6
00:00:35,162 --> 00:00:36,830
[music]

7
00:00:46,340 --> 00:00:49,343
[music continues]

8
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[doors opening]

9
00:01:20,457 --> 00:01:23,460
Mr. Black: It was
July 18th, 1969.

10
00:01:25,462 --> 00:01:28,465
It was early in the
morning, about 5:30 a.m.

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It was a beautiful
day to fly.

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00:01:31,343 --> 00:01:32,970
{\an8}No wind to speak of.

13
00:01:33,095 --> 00:01:34,638
{\an8}So how could
it be better?

14
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We start up the engines.

15
00:01:38,642 --> 00:01:40,435
We were full of fuel.

16
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Everything was fine.

17
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And we started taxiing.

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00:01:43,605 --> 00:01:45,566
[Engine rumbling]

19
00:01:47,234 --> 00:01:48,318
And then sure enough,

20
00:01:48,443 --> 00:01:50,070
the aircraft
started to climb.

21
00:01:50,195 --> 00:01:53,156
Chuck brought the landing
gear up.

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00:01:54,241 --> 00:01:55,909
We were accelerating
and climbing

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above the runway,

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and I think we were about

25
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100 feet above the ground
when I started noticing

26
00:02:02,624 --> 00:02:03,667
that something was wrong.

27
00:02:03,917 --> 00:02:05,586
[intense music boom]

28
00:02:05,711 --> 00:02:07,671
You have one engine
at higher rpm,

29
00:02:07,796 --> 00:02:09,047
another low rpm.

30
00:02:09,172 --> 00:02:12,092
Now that can happen
with an engine failure.

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[intense music boom]

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00:02:14,094 --> 00:02:16,179
And I mean,
I grabbed the chairs

33
00:02:16,305 --> 00:02:18,932
and held on
and looked out

34
00:02:19,057 --> 00:02:21,476
and I saw a bunch
of green grass

35
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and it looked
like a city park

36
00:02:23,562 --> 00:02:25,647
And I thought, well,
worst case scenario,

37
00:02:25,772 --> 00:02:28,150
we've always been trained
to just land in a park.

38
00:02:29,234 --> 00:02:32,237
But the next thing
I noticed was

39
00:02:32,404 --> 00:02:35,365
towering trees
were filling our windshield

40
00:02:35,490 --> 00:02:36,909
[trees hitting the plane]

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00:02:37,034 --> 00:02:38,577
Chuck grabbed
the flight controls,

42
00:02:38,702 --> 00:02:41,622
and he yanks them all
the way left.

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As far as they'll go.

44
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And then he pulls them
all the way back,

45
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against his chest.

46
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[intense music]

47
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[crash]

48
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[soft music start]

49
00:02:58,972 --> 00:03:01,975
I suddenly found myself

50
00:03:02,100 --> 00:03:05,103
above the crash site,

51
00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:07,940
but unaware

52
00:03:08,065 --> 00:03:11,068
of what I was
looking at or why.

53
00:03:11,443 --> 00:03:12,819
I was not in any pain.

54
00:03:12,945 --> 00:03:15,155
I was not in any fear
or discomfort.

55
00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,824
I was just above this
crash site.

56
00:03:17,950 --> 00:03:19,952
[picture click]

57
00:03:23,038 --> 00:03:26,333
I could see an airplane
and I could see a pilot.

58
00:03:26,458 --> 00:03:28,961
First of all, my eyes
went right to one pilot.

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00:03:29,086 --> 00:03:31,171
This was Gene.

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00:03:31,296 --> 00:03:33,799
And then I went over
and I saw another pilot

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00:03:33,924 --> 00:03:35,676
right next to him
five feet away.

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00:03:35,801 --> 00:03:38,762
And I recognized this
as Chuck.

63
00:03:41,390 --> 00:03:43,892
And while I'm processing
what I'm looking at,

64
00:03:44,017 --> 00:03:47,104
I see a third pilot also
about five feet away.

65
00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,483
And this is me.

66
00:03:51,692 --> 00:03:54,277
[low rumbling]

67
00:03:57,155 --> 00:03:59,366
[music]

68
00:04:05,998 --> 00:04:09,334
Mr. Burke: Imagine if what
we're living here on this

69
00:04:09,459 --> 00:04:12,546
earth is really being
lived on a flat, black

70
00:04:12,671 --> 00:04:14,548
and white
painting on a wall,

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00:04:14,673 --> 00:04:15,924
and death is separation.

72
00:04:16,049 --> 00:04:17,551
So when we die, our

73
00:04:17,676 --> 00:04:20,637
spirit separates
from our physical body.

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00:04:20,762 --> 00:04:22,097
[music and rumbling]

75
00:04:22,222 --> 00:04:23,557
You die and
you're ripped off

76
00:04:23,682 --> 00:04:25,308
that flat,
black and white

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00:04:25,434 --> 00:04:26,768
two-dimensional painting

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00:04:26,893 --> 00:04:29,563
your brought out into a
three-dimensional room

79
00:04:29,688 --> 00:04:31,732
of color all around you.

80
00:04:31,857 --> 00:04:33,483
[building music
and rumbling]

81
00:04:33,608 --> 00:04:34,484
You're experiencing things

82
00:04:34,609 --> 00:04:35,652
you've never
experienced before,

83
00:04:35,777 --> 00:04:37,195
even though you can
see your world

84
00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,406
is contained
within this world,

85
00:04:39,531 --> 00:04:40,866
[music]

86
00:04:40,991 --> 00:04:43,076
then imagine
you're put back into

87
00:04:43,201 --> 00:04:44,911
that flat,
black and white painting,

88
00:04:45,037 --> 00:04:46,538
and you have to describe

89
00:04:46,663 --> 00:04:49,374
three dimensions of color

90
00:04:49,499 --> 00:04:52,502
in two-dimensional
black and white terms.

91
00:04:52,627 --> 00:04:53,670
How would you do it?

92
00:04:53,795 --> 00:04:56,631
[dramatic music]

93
00:05:08,435 --> 00:05:11,438
[music continues]

94
00:05:32,667 --> 00:05:34,002
Dr. Sabom: Medically,

95
00:05:34,127 --> 00:05:35,337
Scientifically,

96
00:05:35,587 --> 00:05:37,172
the point of death

97
00:05:37,923 --> 00:05:39,299
cannot be defined.

98
00:05:39,424 --> 00:05:44,554
{\an8}What we do know is there
is a process of dying

99
00:05:45,555 --> 00:05:47,015
{\an8}during which I feel the

100
00:05:47,140 --> 00:05:50,060
{\an8}near-death
experience occurs.

101
00:05:53,522 --> 00:05:56,149
75% of the people in that
first study

102
00:05:56,274 --> 00:05:59,277
have had a documented
cardiac arrest.

103
00:06:03,073 --> 00:06:04,407
Part of the
experience is they

104
00:06:04,533 --> 00:06:06,159
said they floated up
out of their body

105
00:06:06,284 --> 00:06:07,994
and they can see
what was going on

106
00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,080
during the resuscitation.

107
00:06:10,539 --> 00:06:13,542
I felt that myself,
as a cardiologist

108
00:06:13,667 --> 00:06:16,670
could pick that apart.

109
00:07:25,488 --> 00:07:27,699
[button click, reel stops]

110
00:07:29,159 --> 00:07:31,203
Mr. Burke: This is clinical
death as we know it,

111
00:07:31,328 --> 00:07:33,288
sometimes
for a few minutes,

112
00:07:33,413 --> 00:07:35,916
sometimes 30 minutes,
sometimes hours.

113
00:07:36,041 --> 00:07:39,044
{\an8}And yet modern medicine
or the miraculous,

114
00:07:39,211 --> 00:07:40,045
{\an8}I don't know,

115
00:07:40,170 --> 00:07:41,671
{\an8}resuscitated them

116
00:07:41,796 --> 00:07:43,340
{\an8}and they were able
to come back

117
00:07:43,465 --> 00:07:44,841
{\an8}and talk about it.

118
00:07:44,966 --> 00:07:46,760
You may think
you've died.

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00:07:46,885 --> 00:07:48,595
{\an8}Dr. Sabom: All definitions,
medically,

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00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:50,555
{\an8}scientifically,
and legally

121
00:07:50,722 --> 00:07:53,433
{\an8}state that once you go
across that red line,

122
00:07:53,558 --> 00:07:55,101
{\an8}i.e. you die,

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00:07:55,977 --> 00:07:57,520
you don't come back.

124
00:07:57,729 --> 00:08:00,732
And I like to say doctors
resuscitate,

125
00:08:01,149 --> 00:08:03,276
not resurrect
their patients.

126
00:08:03,401 --> 00:08:04,361
[low music]

127
00:08:04,569 --> 00:08:06,196
Mr. Burke: I was actually
an agnostic.

128
00:08:06,321 --> 00:08:08,281
I didn't know if I
believed there was a God.

129
00:08:08,406 --> 00:08:10,116
I thought, I don't
know if I believe

130
00:08:10,242 --> 00:08:11,243
there's a heaven or not,

131
00:08:11,368 --> 00:08:13,453
but my dad was
dying of cancer

132
00:08:13,578 --> 00:08:16,915
and someone gave him
the very first research

133
00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,043
on what's now called
near-death experiences.

134
00:08:20,293 --> 00:08:21,753
And I saw it
on his nightstand,

135
00:08:21,878 --> 00:08:24,339
picked it up
and read it in one night.

136
00:08:24,464 --> 00:08:26,174
And that just
got me curious.

137
00:08:26,299 --> 00:08:29,261
So I kind of opened my
my eyes, my mind,

138
00:08:29,719 --> 00:08:31,263
and I started
to explore from there.

139
00:08:31,388 --> 00:08:33,598
[pages turning]

140
00:08:34,099 --> 00:08:35,517
I found it fascinating,

141
00:08:35,642 --> 00:08:37,811
kind of, the train
of how this

142
00:08:37,936 --> 00:08:39,854
whole near-death
experience phenomenon

143
00:08:39,980 --> 00:08:42,941
started to get
traction in America.

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00:08:43,275 --> 00:08:47,112
Dr. George Ritchie
was the first one

145
00:08:47,237 --> 00:08:49,948
to really talk
publicly about this.

146
00:08:50,073 --> 00:08:52,409
He was actually
at Camp Barkeley

147
00:08:52,534 --> 00:08:55,537
getting ready to go
fight in World War II.

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00:08:55,704 --> 00:08:58,415
Joan Rivers: What happened
during those 9 minutes?

149
00:08:58,540 --> 00:08:59,791
What did you see?
What happened?

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00:08:59,916 --> 00:09:01,293
Dr. Ritchie: I met
the Christ

151
00:09:01,418 --> 00:09:03,169
because I was told
to stand up, you are

152
00:09:03,295 --> 00:09:04,921
in the presence
of the Son of God.

153
00:09:05,046 --> 00:09:07,132
He came into my room

154
00:09:07,257 --> 00:09:09,676
and he conducted me
through four different

155
00:09:09,801 --> 00:09:11,636
realms of life
after death.

156
00:09:11,761 --> 00:09:13,805
Life really is
forever. We don't die.

157
00:09:13,930 --> 00:09:16,057
Death is nothing
more than just a gateway

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00:09:16,182 --> 00:09:16,933
through which we go.

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00:09:17,058 --> 00:09:20,520
Mr. Burke: Dr. Moody
actually heard him lecture

160
00:09:20,645 --> 00:09:22,230
at the University
of Virginia,

161
00:09:22,355 --> 00:09:24,649
where he was
a visiting professor

162
00:09:24,774 --> 00:09:25,942
and heard him talk about

163
00:09:26,067 --> 00:09:27,110
this near-death
experience.

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00:09:27,235 --> 00:09:28,611
Dr. Moody: In 1969,

165
00:09:28,737 --> 00:09:30,447
I became a professor
of philosophy

166
00:09:30,572 --> 00:09:32,365
at East
Carolina University

167
00:09:32,490 --> 00:09:34,659
{\an8}and in teaching
courses on Plato.

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00:09:34,784 --> 00:09:36,202
{\an8}I began to hear these

169
00:09:36,328 --> 00:09:38,580
{\an8}experiences
from my students

170
00:09:38,705 --> 00:09:41,291
{\an8}and also from other
faculty members.

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00:09:41,416 --> 00:09:42,500
Dr. Sabom: I was
brought into this

172
00:09:42,625 --> 00:09:44,294
field kicking
and screaming.

173
00:09:44,419 --> 00:09:46,796
{\an8}I was at the University
of Florida in Gainesville

174
00:09:46,921 --> 00:09:48,548
{\an8}with Sarah Kreissinger

175
00:09:48,673 --> 00:09:50,467
{\an8}who was a psychiatric,
social worker

176
00:09:50,592 --> 00:09:52,761
{\an8}at the hospital
I was working at.

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00:09:52,886 --> 00:09:54,262
And she had picked up

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00:09:54,387 --> 00:09:56,806
Raymond Moody's book
Life After Life,

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00:09:56,931 --> 00:09:58,224
about two months

180
00:09:58,350 --> 00:10:00,643
after it was
initially published.

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00:10:00,769 --> 00:10:02,854
She read it.
She gave it to me.

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00:10:02,979 --> 00:10:04,606
She asked me
what I thought.

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00:10:04,731 --> 00:10:06,024
Anchor: This is Dr. Raymond
Moody,

184
00:10:06,149 --> 00:10:08,777
noted psychiatrist,
lecturer, and researcher.

185
00:10:08,902 --> 00:10:10,612
He is perhaps best
known as the author

186
00:10:10,737 --> 00:10:12,155
of the groundbreaking
examination

187
00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:13,615
of the near-death
experience.

188
00:10:13,740 --> 00:10:16,451
The bestselling book,
Life After Life.

189
00:10:16,576 --> 00:10:19,037
It has sold upwards
of 15 million copies,

190
00:10:19,162 --> 00:10:22,040
and has been printed in
14 different languages.

191
00:10:22,165 --> 00:10:23,416
Dr. Moody: They tell us,
first of all,

192
00:10:23,541 --> 00:10:25,210
that they seem,
from their point of view,

193
00:10:25,335 --> 00:10:27,379
to leave
their physical bodies

194
00:10:27,504 --> 00:10:30,590
to float up above the
scene of the resuscitation

195
00:10:30,715 --> 00:10:33,510
and to watch the events
going on down below.

196
00:10:35,887 --> 00:10:37,347
They tell us that they go

197
00:10:37,472 --> 00:10:40,392
through a narrow
passageway or a tunnel

198
00:10:41,267 --> 00:10:43,019
into an
incredibly brilliant

199
00:10:43,144 --> 00:10:44,729
and warm and loving light

200
00:10:45,772 --> 00:10:46,856
Dr. Sabom: Hogwash.

201
00:10:46,981 --> 00:10:49,526
I never heard
these experiences before.

202
00:10:49,651 --> 00:10:50,819
I went into the hospital

203
00:10:50,944 --> 00:10:52,821
asking some of the
older physicians,

204
00:10:52,946 --> 00:10:54,989
"Hey, you ever heard
a patient say this?"

205
00:10:55,115 --> 00:10:55,949
"No."

206
00:10:56,074 --> 00:10:58,159
[music]

207
00:10:58,493 --> 00:11:00,537
So I was very skeptical

208
00:11:00,662 --> 00:11:02,872
that these things
were even occurring.

209
00:11:02,997 --> 00:11:04,541
And if they were
occurring,

210
00:11:04,666 --> 00:11:06,376
they were either
hallucinations

211
00:11:06,501 --> 00:11:09,421
or delusions or whatever.

212
00:11:09,546 --> 00:11:11,548
[music continues]

213
00:11:11,714 --> 00:11:15,176
In cardiology, we're about
scientific studies.

214
00:11:15,427 --> 00:11:16,928
So I asked a few people

215
00:11:17,053 --> 00:11:18,596
who had been resuscitated,

216
00:11:18,721 --> 00:11:19,556
and the third patient

217
00:11:19,681 --> 00:11:21,641
I talked to had
an experience

218
00:11:21,766 --> 00:11:23,101
similar to what
Moody talked

219
00:11:23,226 --> 00:11:25,437
about in his book,
Life After Life.

220
00:11:25,562 --> 00:11:28,022
So, Sarah and I said,

221
00:11:28,148 --> 00:11:31,443
Well, maybe we ought
to look into this further.

222
00:11:31,568 --> 00:11:32,652
[typewriter clicks]

223
00:11:32,777 --> 00:11:35,572
We devised a
scientific protocol

224
00:11:35,697 --> 00:11:36,948
to interview
these people.

225
00:11:37,073 --> 00:11:38,992
We tape recorded
the interviews.

226
00:11:39,117 --> 00:11:40,827
We took down
their background data,

227
00:11:40,952 --> 00:11:43,538
the demographics,
etc.. And...

228
00:11:44,789 --> 00:11:47,041
this went
on for five years.

229
00:11:47,167 --> 00:11:48,710
First of all,
I'd get permission

230
00:11:48,835 --> 00:11:52,464
to tape record it
and then say,

231
00:11:52,589 --> 00:11:53,798
okay, go...

232
00:12:58,279 --> 00:12:59,447
Dr. Sabom: These
people say,

233
00:12:59,572 --> 00:13:01,533
"I've never told anybody
about this, doc.

234
00:13:01,658 --> 00:13:02,909
And by the way, I'm
the only one

235
00:13:03,034 --> 00:13:04,410
that's ever had this."

236
00:13:04,536 --> 00:13:07,163
So the near-death
experience at that time,

237
00:13:07,288 --> 00:13:11,417
and that's about 45 years
ago was not well known.

238
00:13:11,626 --> 00:13:14,462
And so these people
were sort of

239
00:13:14,587 --> 00:13:16,381
coming up
with it on their own,

240
00:13:16,506 --> 00:13:19,634
and they were suspicious
of me asking the questions,

241
00:13:19,968 --> 00:13:20,802
which to me

242
00:13:20,927 --> 00:13:23,763
lent credibility to what
they were telling me.

243
00:13:23,888 --> 00:13:25,557
Dr. Moody: Many of them
said, for example,

244
00:13:25,682 --> 00:13:28,434
that they had tried to tell
their doctor about it

245
00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:31,437
or a minister about it and
that they were dismissed.

246
00:13:31,563 --> 00:13:33,648
And in those initial years,

247
00:13:33,773 --> 00:13:37,068
the people that I talked
with were just very happy

248
00:13:37,193 --> 00:13:39,320
that at last somebody
would listen to them.

249
00:13:42,282 --> 00:13:44,576
Mr. Storm: I started at
Northern Kentucky University

250
00:13:44,701 --> 00:13:46,369
in 1972.

251
00:13:46,828 --> 00:13:49,205
{\an8}I was hired as an assistant
professor and I was

252
00:13:50,164 --> 00:13:52,542
{\an8}offered a promotion
to full professor

253
00:13:52,667 --> 00:13:55,795
at the age of 25, and
I was also given tenure

254
00:13:55,795 --> 00:13:56,796
[music]

255
00:13:56,921 --> 00:13:59,340
my third year.

256
00:14:01,593 --> 00:14:03,177
Seven students, myself

257
00:14:03,303 --> 00:14:03,970
and my wife

258
00:14:04,095 --> 00:14:05,722
toured Amsterdam

259
00:14:05,847 --> 00:14:08,016
and then went up
to Denmark.

260
00:14:08,141 --> 00:14:11,102
Spent a few days there,
went to Sweden for a day.

261
00:14:11,519 --> 00:14:14,230
And last week, it was
a three week trip,

262
00:14:14,355 --> 00:14:17,275
and our last week,
was a week in Paris.

263
00:14:19,110 --> 00:14:23,656
It was an art tour, it was,
pretty much all museums.

264
00:14:23,781 --> 00:14:26,242
[music continues]

265
00:14:26,367 --> 00:14:28,286
On that Saturday morning,

266
00:14:28,411 --> 00:14:29,954
June 1, 1985,

267
00:14:30,079 --> 00:14:31,164
and I had the most acute

268
00:14:31,289 --> 00:14:32,915
pain I'd ever
experienced in my life

269
00:14:33,041 --> 00:14:36,044
in the center of
my abdomen. Right there.

270
00:14:36,419 --> 00:14:39,088
[rumbling]

271
00:14:41,090 --> 00:14:42,467
It was terrifying
because it

272
00:14:42,592 --> 00:14:43,843
it just came from
nowhere.

273
00:14:43,968 --> 00:14:46,179
And I never experienced
such acute pain.

274
00:14:46,304 --> 00:14:47,764
I mean, this was like

275
00:14:47,889 --> 00:14:49,390
the kind of pain
that blows

276
00:14:49,515 --> 00:14:50,725
the top of your head off.

277
00:14:50,975 --> 00:14:52,977
[rumbling]

278
00:14:55,355 --> 00:14:56,731
A doctor
came very quickly,

279
00:14:56,856 --> 00:14:57,982
got me up
off the floor,

280
00:14:58,107 --> 00:14:59,901
with a great deal of
difficulty because

281
00:15:00,026 --> 00:15:01,235
I couldn't move.

282
00:15:01,361 --> 00:15:02,612
He knew exactly
what was wrong.

283
00:15:02,737 --> 00:15:04,781
and told me that I
had a perforation

284
00:15:04,906 --> 00:15:05,990
of the duodenum.

285
00:15:06,115 --> 00:15:07,450
Which means I had a hole

286
00:15:07,575 --> 00:15:09,452
go through my
small stomach.

287
00:15:10,119 --> 00:15:12,080
What was happening
was the hydrochloric acid

288
00:15:12,205 --> 00:15:12,872
and the enzymes

289
00:15:12,997 --> 00:15:13,748
and the bacteria
in everything

290
00:15:13,873 --> 00:15:15,166
are now migrating, leaking

291
00:15:15,291 --> 00:15:16,709
into my abdominal cavity.

292
00:15:16,834 --> 00:15:17,877
To put it in crude terms.

293
00:15:18,002 --> 00:15:21,422
I was digesting myself,
on the inside.

294
00:15:21,631 --> 00:15:22,465
[liquid explosion]

295
00:15:22,590 --> 00:15:24,092
Without exaggeration,

296
00:15:24,217 --> 00:15:25,718
what it felt like
was fire.

297
00:15:25,843 --> 00:15:26,594
[fire explosion]

298
00:15:26,719 --> 00:15:28,137
my wife riding alongside me

299
00:15:28,262 --> 00:15:29,055
in the back of
the ambulance

300
00:15:29,180 --> 00:15:31,724
as we traveled
70, 80 miles an hour

301
00:15:31,849 --> 00:15:34,977
through the streets
of Paris to the big

302
00:15:35,770 --> 00:15:36,813
city hospital

303
00:15:37,271 --> 00:15:38,898
[emergency sirens]

304
00:15:39,273 --> 00:15:40,692
they confirmed basically,

305
00:15:40,817 --> 00:15:42,527
if I didn't have the
surgery in an hour,

306
00:15:42,652 --> 00:15:43,653
I would die.

307
00:15:43,778 --> 00:15:44,987
[squeaky wheel]

308
00:15:45,113 --> 00:15:47,740
So they sent me
to the surgical hospital.

309
00:15:47,865 --> 00:15:49,242
And because it was
the weekend,

310
00:15:49,367 --> 00:15:51,869
there was no doctor
available.

311
00:15:51,994 --> 00:15:54,622
No surgeon
available at the hospital

312
00:15:54,747 --> 00:15:57,667
they sent me to.
So I was put in a room.

313
00:15:57,667 --> 00:15:59,377
[moaning and yelling]

314
00:15:59,711 --> 00:16:00,753
I begged, I screamed,

315
00:16:00,878 --> 00:16:03,840
I yelled,

316
00:16:03,965 --> 00:16:04,966
[intense music]

317
00:16:05,133 --> 00:16:05,967
and my wife begged

318
00:16:06,092 --> 00:16:07,385
and yelled and screamed,

319
00:16:07,510 --> 00:16:09,512
Beverly: Nurse, can someone
please come in here?

320
00:16:09,721 --> 00:16:11,556
[intense music]

321
00:16:11,681 --> 00:16:12,306
Mr. Storm: Sorry.

322
00:16:12,432 --> 00:16:14,809
We need a doctor
to prescribe something

323
00:16:14,934 --> 00:16:16,978
Beverly: Can you please talk
to someone who can help us?

324
00:16:17,103 --> 00:16:18,104
There has to be somebody,

325
00:16:18,229 --> 00:16:20,273
how can there not be
someone here?

326
00:16:20,523 --> 00:16:22,859
[intense music]

327
00:16:24,902 --> 00:16:27,780
Mr. Storm: There I
was for 10 hours.

328
00:16:27,905 --> 00:16:29,532
About once an hour,
the nurse would come in

329
00:16:29,657 --> 00:16:32,160
and ask how I was doing,
and I would tell her in

330
00:16:32,285 --> 00:16:35,246
French and English
that I was dying and

331
00:16:36,456 --> 00:16:39,459
shrug their shoulders
and walk away.

332
00:16:40,460 --> 00:16:41,502
I wasn't in fear.

333
00:16:41,627 --> 00:16:42,879
I was in terror

334
00:16:43,004 --> 00:16:45,882
Because I was 38 years old,
very successful

335
00:16:46,007 --> 00:16:47,633
in my career
at the university,

336
00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:52,013
you know, wife and two
kids, nice house, two cars.

337
00:16:52,472 --> 00:16:53,723
The thing
that kept going through

338
00:16:53,848 --> 00:16:55,725
my mind is this
can't be happening.

339
00:16:55,850 --> 00:16:57,977
This can't be happening.
This can't be happening.

340
00:16:58,186 --> 00:17:00,396
[clock ticking]

341
00:17:00,521 --> 00:17:01,355
People ask me,

342
00:17:01,481 --> 00:17:02,690
How do you know
you were dying?

343
00:17:02,815 --> 00:17:05,735
It's like the stupidest
question in the world

344
00:17:06,819 --> 00:17:08,571
when you're dying,
you know it

345
00:17:09,697 --> 00:17:11,407
with every breath.

346
00:17:11,532 --> 00:17:14,452
I felt like I had one more
breath to go.

347
00:17:14,660 --> 00:17:17,663
[women crying and pleading]

348
00:17:17,955 --> 00:17:21,751
Nurse came into the room
at 8:30 that night

349
00:17:21,876 --> 00:17:23,169
and said they were sorry,

350
00:17:23,294 --> 00:17:23,961
but they were

351
00:17:24,086 --> 00:17:26,714
unable to locate a doctor
and they would try

352
00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:29,801
to find one the next day,
which was Sunday.

353
00:17:30,551 --> 00:17:32,428
Well, when she said that,
I was like,

354
00:17:32,553 --> 00:17:34,347
okay, it's over. Done.

355
00:17:34,472 --> 00:17:36,098
You know,
I can't do this anymore.

356
00:17:36,224 --> 00:17:38,267
You know, I'm exhausted.

357
00:17:38,392 --> 00:17:39,352
And I looked
at her [Beverly],

358
00:17:39,477 --> 00:17:42,396
and it was horrible to
see her crying like that.

359
00:17:43,397 --> 00:17:47,068
And I closed my eyes and
stopped trying to breathe.

360
00:17:47,193 --> 00:17:50,196
And I went unconscious.

361
00:17:50,321 --> 00:17:51,656
[flat-line tone]

362
00:17:52,532 --> 00:17:54,242
I was an atheist,
and I knew that

363
00:17:54,367 --> 00:17:56,410
when you die,
it's just over.

364
00:17:56,536 --> 00:18:00,414
It's like the big nothing,
you know, void the end.

365
00:18:01,707 --> 00:18:03,167
[music building]

366
00:18:03,292 --> 00:18:03,918
Mr. Black: The official

367
00:18:04,043 --> 00:18:07,004
impact speed recorded
by the National

368
00:18:07,129 --> 00:18:10,967
Transportation Safety Board
was 135 miles an hour.

369
00:18:12,426 --> 00:18:15,429
We impacted
right below the cockpit

370
00:18:15,847 --> 00:18:16,931
with that impact speed.

371
00:18:17,056 --> 00:18:20,268
It just exploded
the cockpit into...

372
00:18:20,393 --> 00:18:23,020
{\an8}We just,
everything was opened up.

373
00:18:23,145 --> 00:18:25,064
{\an8}We hit that dome and fell,

374
00:18:25,189 --> 00:18:28,109
boom,
right down to the ground.

375
00:18:29,694 --> 00:18:31,779
{\an8}I'm told by the curator

376
00:18:31,904 --> 00:18:33,739
{\an8}of the mausoleum,
that the mausoleum

377
00:18:33,865 --> 00:18:35,700
{\an8}was six stories,
seven stories tall.

378
00:18:35,825 --> 00:18:37,285
{\an8}And we slammed

379
00:18:37,410 --> 00:18:39,537
{\an8}right into the top of it.

380
00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:42,373
I can remember today

381
00:18:42,498 --> 00:18:45,418
as well as I could five
years ago, ten years ago.

382
00:18:46,127 --> 00:18:50,172
You realize
that you are not

383
00:18:51,424 --> 00:18:53,175
a body.

384
00:18:53,301 --> 00:18:55,344
I believe it's

385
00:18:55,469 --> 00:18:58,431
what happens to everyone
when they die.

386
00:19:00,057 --> 00:19:01,809
Mr. Storm: I awoke
from unconsciousness

387
00:19:01,934 --> 00:19:03,227
standing there

388
00:19:03,352 --> 00:19:04,604
next to the bed,

389
00:19:04,729 --> 00:19:06,606
feeling better than I ever
felt before in my life.

390
00:19:08,941 --> 00:19:12,069
My vision
was greatly increased.

391
00:19:12,194 --> 00:19:13,696
{\an8}Instead of seeing 106

392
00:19:13,821 --> 00:19:17,241
{\an8}degrees, I could see
almost 360 degrees.

393
00:19:18,117 --> 00:19:20,828
My depth of field
was total.

394
00:19:20,953 --> 00:19:23,915
When I looked at something
close, I, everything

395
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:25,458
far was in focus.

396
00:19:25,583 --> 00:19:27,835
Being an artist and being
a visual person, not much.

397
00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,922
The first thing I was like,
Wow, I've never been able

398
00:19:31,047 --> 00:19:31,756
to see like this.

399
00:19:31,881 --> 00:19:33,174
Then I realized I
could hear,

400
00:19:33,299 --> 00:19:35,092
smell, taste, touch, everything.

401
00:19:35,217 --> 00:19:36,260
I could feel

402
00:19:36,385 --> 00:19:39,305
all the little nuances
in the cold linoleum floor.

403
00:19:40,431 --> 00:19:43,351
I could hear the buzzing
of the fluorescent lights

404
00:19:43,476 --> 00:19:46,437
in the ceiling
really loudly.

405
00:19:47,313 --> 00:19:50,483
All of my senses were
greatly, greatly enhanced.

406
00:19:51,233 --> 00:19:53,444
Mr. Black: I'm looking
down and I'm realizing

407
00:19:53,569 --> 00:19:56,489
there's my body,
but I'm up here.

408
00:19:56,864 --> 00:20:00,660
I can't be dead because
I've never felt more alive.

409
00:20:00,868 --> 00:20:02,745
[music and waves]

410
00:20:02,870 --> 00:20:05,539
I was not only alive,
I was free.

411
00:20:05,665 --> 00:20:07,500
And I didn't understand
this.

412
00:20:07,625 --> 00:20:09,251
But I realized then, okay,

413
00:20:10,836 --> 00:20:13,839
I am a spirit.

414
00:20:14,090 --> 00:20:17,093
I have a soul.

415
00:20:18,177 --> 00:20:18,970
And I used to live

416
00:20:19,095 --> 00:20:22,056
in that body.

417
00:20:23,516 --> 00:20:26,519
I was pressed up against
the instrument panel

418
00:20:27,186 --> 00:20:30,189
and was motionless.

419
00:20:30,356 --> 00:20:32,858
It was 16 minutes
before the fire department

420
00:20:32,984 --> 00:20:33,818
got there.

421
00:20:33,943 --> 00:20:36,946
The paramedics
got there right after

422
00:20:37,113 --> 00:20:39,115
[emergency sirens]

423
00:20:39,573 --> 00:20:42,576
they put me and Chuck
in the same ambulance.

424
00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:48,541
And I have tremendous
strong memories

425
00:20:48,874 --> 00:20:53,754
that I'm watching my body
and Chuck and I'm chasing

426
00:20:53,879 --> 00:20:56,882
that ambulance as it goes
through the streets.

427
00:20:57,049 --> 00:21:00,302
I have no idea
how to explain

428
00:21:00,428 --> 00:21:02,596
a lot of the things
we're talking about.

429
00:21:02,722 --> 00:21:06,892
But chasing that ambulance
without really any effort.

430
00:21:07,143 --> 00:21:08,019
How did I do that?

431
00:21:08,144 --> 00:21:11,063
I don't know.

432
00:21:11,272 --> 00:21:12,857
[music and sirens]

433
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:15,651
I wasn't worried.

434
00:21:15,776 --> 00:21:16,986
I wasn't in pain.

435
00:21:17,111 --> 00:21:19,447
I wasn't concerned really.

436
00:21:19,572 --> 00:21:24,410
I was questioning,
what is this all about

437
00:21:26,495 --> 00:21:28,539
{\an8}Dr. Long: Now, while no two
near-death experiences

438
00:21:28,664 --> 00:21:29,457
{\an8}are the same,

439
00:21:29,582 --> 00:21:31,083
{\an8}they have a very consistent

440
00:21:31,208 --> 00:21:33,419
{\an8}pattern of elements
or what occurs

441
00:21:33,544 --> 00:21:34,879
{\an8}during the near-death
experience.

442
00:21:35,004 --> 00:21:37,840
That typically occur in
a very consistent process.

443
00:21:38,049 --> 00:21:40,009
[backround conversation]
[medical equipment beeping]

444
00:21:40,134 --> 00:21:41,010
The very first thing that

445
00:21:41,135 --> 00:21:44,055
happens is that close
brush with death.

446
00:21:44,180 --> 00:21:45,181
They're unconscious.

447
00:21:45,306 --> 00:21:47,516
They may be clinically dead
with absent heartbeat,

448
00:21:47,641 --> 00:21:48,726
absent breathing.

449
00:21:48,851 --> 00:21:50,311
At that time when
they shouldn't

450
00:21:50,436 --> 00:21:52,813
have any experience at
all, they do.

451
00:21:52,938 --> 00:21:54,815
Often the first thing
that happens is

452
00:21:54,940 --> 00:21:57,860
what's called
an out-of-body experience.

453
00:21:58,069 --> 00:21:59,528
{\an8}Mr. Burke: People leave
their bodies.

454
00:21:59,653 --> 00:22:01,238
{\an8}They're, they're watching

455
00:22:01,363 --> 00:22:03,074
{\an8}the resuscitation
many times, but they say

456
00:22:03,199 --> 00:22:05,284
{\an8}they still have
a spiritual body.

457
00:22:05,409 --> 00:22:06,494
Dr. Long: From that
vantage point,

458
00:22:06,619 --> 00:22:08,454
they can see ongoing
earthly events

459
00:22:08,579 --> 00:22:09,955
and often later describe

460
00:22:10,081 --> 00:22:13,042
frantic efforts
at their own resuscitation.

461
00:22:13,292 --> 00:22:15,294
[backround conversation]
[medical equipment sounds]

462
00:22:16,378 --> 00:22:18,172
Mr. Burke: They move out
of that place

463
00:22:18,297 --> 00:22:19,590
of their resuscitation,

464
00:22:19,715 --> 00:22:22,635
and they come to a place
of exquisite beauty.

465
00:22:22,802 --> 00:22:25,471
- Dr. Sabom:
- They very commonly
see a light at times.

466
00:22:25,596 --> 00:22:28,557
They interpret
that as a religious figure.

467
00:22:28,766 --> 00:22:32,853
Mr. Burke: And this light was
light that is love and life.

468
00:22:33,145 --> 00:22:34,522
It was palpable

469
00:22:34,647 --> 00:22:35,481
and not hard to look at,

470
00:22:35,606 --> 00:22:37,066
but it came out
of everything,

471
00:22:37,191 --> 00:22:39,443
and yet it made everything
vibrant.

472
00:22:39,568 --> 00:22:41,570
The colors,
they say, are far

473
00:22:41,695 --> 00:22:42,988
beyond our color spectrum.

474
00:22:44,365 --> 00:22:45,157
Dr. Long: Music has been

475
00:22:45,282 --> 00:22:47,159
described so beautiful

476
00:22:47,284 --> 00:22:49,286
that they say they've never
heard anything like it.

477
00:22:49,411 --> 00:22:51,831
Nothing like that
is possible on earth.

478
00:22:51,956 --> 00:22:54,208
Dr. Sabom: Deceased
relatives or friends often

479
00:22:54,333 --> 00:22:56,418
come to meet them there.

480
00:22:56,544 --> 00:22:58,921
Mr. Burke: You know, they say
we still have all our memories

481
00:22:59,046 --> 00:23:01,006
our humor,
we're the same people.

482
00:23:01,132 --> 00:23:03,509
But we meet again
on the other side.

483
00:23:03,634 --> 00:23:06,720
{\an8}Dr. Sabom: And some of them say,
well, I reached a place where

484
00:23:06,887 --> 00:23:07,596
{\an8}I felt like

485
00:23:07,721 --> 00:23:10,683
{\an8}if I went any further,
I wouldn't come back

486
00:23:11,433 --> 00:23:12,101
Dr. Long: At that time,

487
00:23:12,226 --> 00:23:13,769
they may then have
a life review.

488
00:23:13,894 --> 00:23:16,814
They may see part
or all of their prior life.

489
00:23:16,981 --> 00:23:17,857
[breathe sound]

490
00:23:17,982 --> 00:23:19,441
Dr. Sabom: The whole
experience is

491
00:23:19,567 --> 00:23:22,528
very calm,
it's very peaceful.

492
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,323
Some people don't
want to come back.

493
00:23:26,532 --> 00:23:28,450
[music and whooshing]

494
00:23:28,576 --> 00:23:29,577
Mr. Burke: And then many talk

495
00:23:29,702 --> 00:23:32,913
about a God of light
and love

496
00:23:33,414 --> 00:23:35,916
that they experience
in this presence.

497
00:23:36,041 --> 00:23:38,335
This light is brighter
than the sun,

498
00:23:38,460 --> 00:23:41,255
but again, not just light
like we would see

499
00:23:41,380 --> 00:23:42,173
here on earth.

500
00:23:43,090 --> 00:23:46,635
And they feel an
unconditional love

501
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:48,596
and peace and acceptance

502
00:23:48,721 --> 00:23:51,682
from this God like they've
never experienced before.

503
00:23:51,807 --> 00:23:53,017
[violin music]

504
00:23:53,142 --> 00:23:55,644
- Dr. Long:
- Ultimately, they either
make the choice to return

505
00:23:55,769 --> 00:23:58,731
to the earthly body or
sent back involuntarily.

506
00:23:59,648 --> 00:24:02,484
Mr. Burke: This God almost
always says to them,

507
00:24:02,610 --> 00:24:04,612
Your time is not up yet.

508
00:24:04,737 --> 00:24:07,364
You still have a purpose
on Earth.

509
00:24:07,489 --> 00:24:08,532
Sometimes he asks them,

510
00:24:08,657 --> 00:24:09,950
Do you want to stay
or do you want to go?

511
00:24:10,075 --> 00:24:12,453
Many times he says,
You got to go back.

512
00:24:12,578 --> 00:24:15,581
None of them want to go
back.

513
00:24:15,706 --> 00:24:17,374
[music]

514
00:24:20,544 --> 00:24:22,046
Mr. Burke: Not every
single one of

515
00:24:22,171 --> 00:24:24,423
them experiences
all the commonalities.

516
00:24:24,548 --> 00:24:27,843
Some do, some experience
three, four or five,

517
00:24:27,968 --> 00:24:30,930
some ten, 20,
some, all of them.

518
00:24:31,513 --> 00:24:33,807
But those
commonalities overlap.

519
00:24:33,933 --> 00:24:36,393
But there are uniqueness
to each experience.

520
00:24:36,518 --> 00:24:39,563
Like when they encounter
this god of light and love,

521
00:24:39,813 --> 00:24:42,024
each one of them feels like

522
00:24:42,149 --> 00:24:44,068
they are the only
one God loves.

523
00:24:46,987 --> 00:24:47,738
And yet,

524
00:24:47,863 --> 00:24:50,866
they all feel that way.

525
00:24:52,785 --> 00:24:54,453
[click and rolling]

526
00:24:57,998 --> 00:25:00,584
{\an8}[Historic illustrations
of the afterlife]

527
00:25:00,834 --> 00:25:02,503
{\an8}[music]

528
00:25:08,217 --> 00:25:09,260
Mr. Burke: You know actually,
these near-death

529
00:25:09,385 --> 00:25:12,346
experiences are not new.

530
00:25:13,472 --> 00:25:15,182
Plato wrote in the Republic
about

531
00:25:15,307 --> 00:25:18,227
a soldier who comes to
on his funeral pyre

532
00:25:18,644 --> 00:25:21,647
and had an experience
like this.

533
00:25:22,231 --> 00:25:24,358
Paul in the New Testament,
who wrote much of

534
00:25:24,483 --> 00:25:25,526
the New Testament,

535
00:25:25,651 --> 00:25:27,069
I believe in
Acts chapter 14,

536
00:25:27,194 --> 00:25:29,780
He's stoned to
death in Lystra

537
00:25:30,072 --> 00:25:31,156
and left for dead.

538
00:25:31,282 --> 00:25:34,118
And then he gets back up
and he talks about

539
00:25:34,243 --> 00:25:37,246
how he had an experience
of going to heaven

540
00:25:37,538 --> 00:25:38,872
[music]

541
00:25:40,874 --> 00:25:41,959
Dr. Moody: In the ancient world.

542
00:25:42,084 --> 00:25:45,129
Presumably these
experiences were very rare.

543
00:25:45,796 --> 00:25:48,132
By the time
I started investigating it

544
00:25:48,257 --> 00:25:50,509
in the 60s
and 70s,

545
00:25:50,634 --> 00:25:52,845
the advent
of cardiopulmonary

546
00:25:52,970 --> 00:25:55,097
resuscitation
had greatly increased

547
00:25:55,222 --> 00:25:57,808
the number of people
who had been to the brink

548
00:25:57,933 --> 00:25:59,101
of death and recovered.

549
00:25:59,226 --> 00:26:01,020
So there were
a lot of cases.

550
00:26:01,145 --> 00:26:04,148
Dr. Sabom: Some of them say,
well, I reached a place where

551
00:26:04,273 --> 00:26:05,024
I felt like

552
00:26:05,149 --> 00:26:08,068
if I went any further,
I wouldn't come back.

553
00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:11,280
And I get questioned
about this a lot.

554
00:26:11,405 --> 00:26:12,197
And the question

555
00:26:12,323 --> 00:26:15,200
is, well, is that really
a barrier or not?

556
00:26:15,326 --> 00:26:16,660
And my answer is,

557
00:26:16,785 --> 00:26:18,537
well, I've not been able
to interview

558
00:26:18,662 --> 00:26:20,331
any of them
that didn't come back.

559
00:26:20,456 --> 00:26:21,623
So I assume

560
00:26:21,749 --> 00:26:25,210
that if they do go over
that, it very well may be

561
00:26:25,419 --> 00:26:26,670
a point of no return.

562
00:26:26,795 --> 00:26:28,714
I have no evidence
to suggest that,

563
00:26:28,839 --> 00:26:32,426
except I have no evidence
to refute it either.

564
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,304
[button clicks and
machine starts]

565
00:26:35,846 --> 00:26:37,473
Raymond Moody heard
about our work,

566
00:26:37,598 --> 00:26:40,476
so he called us up
to his house,

567
00:26:40,601 --> 00:26:43,520
along with two
other researchers.

568
00:26:44,063 --> 00:26:46,690
Dr. Moody: And that's when I met
all of these wonderful people

569
00:26:46,815 --> 00:26:50,069
Bruce Grayson and Mike
Sabom and Kenneth Ring.

570
00:26:51,111 --> 00:26:53,447
Dr. Sabom: We got together,
we compared notes

571
00:26:53,572 --> 00:26:55,032
and we said, you know,
we ought to form

572
00:26:55,157 --> 00:26:58,702
a group and share with one
another what we're doing.

573
00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:00,788
And it eventually
turned out to be

574
00:27:00,913 --> 00:27:03,207
what's now known as IANDS

575
00:27:03,332 --> 00:27:06,293
International Association
and Near-Death Studies.

576
00:27:06,794 --> 00:27:08,796
[music and pictures moving]

577
00:27:10,047 --> 00:27:12,716
Mr. Burke: After five years of
doing research, Dr. Sabom

578
00:27:12,966 --> 00:27:15,928
ends up writing
a book convinced that

579
00:27:16,220 --> 00:27:19,848
this really does show that
there is life after death.

580
00:27:19,973 --> 00:27:22,643
But then even more
fascinating, he publishes

581
00:27:22,768 --> 00:27:23,727
in the Journal of the

582
00:27:23,852 --> 00:27:25,396
American Medical
Association

583
00:27:25,521 --> 00:27:27,815
his findings and what
changed his mind.

584
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,275
Dr. Long: I was in my
residency training

585
00:27:30,401 --> 00:27:32,152
and I was going through
a bound journal

586
00:27:32,277 --> 00:27:34,029
looking for a cancer
related article.

587
00:27:34,154 --> 00:27:37,032
And completely by accident,
I found in the title

588
00:27:37,157 --> 00:27:39,952
of an article the
term Near-Death experience.

589
00:27:40,202 --> 00:27:42,246
[music and low rumble]

590
00:27:42,371 --> 00:27:44,123
Dr. Long: Everything I knew as
a doctor said,

591
00:27:44,248 --> 00:27:46,792
This is medically
inexplicable.

592
00:27:46,917 --> 00:27:47,918
In this article

593
00:27:48,043 --> 00:27:49,545
all around
the world, were people

594
00:27:49,670 --> 00:27:51,880
having these experiences
while they were unconscious

595
00:27:52,005 --> 00:27:53,799
or even clinically dead

596
00:27:53,924 --> 00:27:55,843
who can't be mystified
by that question

597
00:27:55,968 --> 00:27:58,929
of what happens
after you die?

598
00:27:59,138 --> 00:28:00,681
[music]

599
00:28:00,806 --> 00:28:03,267
Dr. Moody: As I've traveled
around the world to China

600
00:28:03,392 --> 00:28:05,102
and Japan and India

601
00:28:05,227 --> 00:28:08,147
and North and South America
and all over Europe,

602
00:28:08,564 --> 00:28:11,150
people all over the world
use the word light,

603
00:28:11,275 --> 00:28:12,693
but they say that it's not

604
00:28:12,818 --> 00:28:13,777
the light that comes

605
00:28:13,902 --> 00:28:16,196
from a light bulb
or from the sun.

606
00:28:16,321 --> 00:28:18,949
But universally
the description is that the

607
00:28:19,074 --> 00:28:21,618
light of complete
compassion and love.

608
00:28:21,743 --> 00:28:24,621
And people also say
that they learned

609
00:28:24,746 --> 00:28:27,124
from their experience
that what we call

610
00:28:27,249 --> 00:28:30,836
death is a transition
into some other reality.

611
00:28:31,170 --> 00:28:33,088
So they
lose their fear of death.

612
00:28:33,672 --> 00:28:36,008
[rolling thunder and raindrops]

613
00:28:38,469 --> 00:28:41,972
Don Piper: The day was
January 18th, 1989,

614
00:28:42,097 --> 00:28:45,100
very chilly by
South Texas standards.

615
00:28:45,559 --> 00:28:48,103
{\an8}I almost stopped
in a little town

616
00:28:48,228 --> 00:28:50,898
{\an8}before you cross
all the bridges to get some

617
00:28:51,023 --> 00:28:52,816
{\an8}some coffee. I didn't.

618
00:28:52,941 --> 00:28:55,277
The people who were
on the highway ahead of me,

619
00:28:55,402 --> 00:28:57,529
she wanted some coffee.
They pulled over.

620
00:28:57,654 --> 00:29:00,616
I drove past them
and they came in behind me,

621
00:29:00,782 --> 00:29:03,785
Dick and Anita,
Onarecker.

622
00:29:04,453 --> 00:29:09,500
{\an8}Anita: It was foggy
and a slight rain.

623
00:29:09,625 --> 00:29:11,835
{\an8}It was wet

624
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,880
Don: and I knew I would have to
cross some bridges.

625
00:29:15,005 --> 00:29:16,256
[thunder and rain]

626
00:29:16,381 --> 00:29:19,009
It was an old bridge

627
00:29:19,134 --> 00:29:22,095
and it is very narrow.

628
00:29:22,638 --> 00:29:25,474
I'm just really focused
on getting back

629
00:29:25,599 --> 00:29:28,560
to Alvin, Texas,
where I lived.

630
00:29:28,852 --> 00:29:30,646
I was headed back that way

631
00:29:30,771 --> 00:29:32,272
and looking forward
to seeing my family,

632
00:29:32,397 --> 00:29:35,734
which I missed for three
days, especially my wife.

633
00:29:37,152 --> 00:29:38,320
What I didn't know

634
00:29:38,445 --> 00:29:41,406
was that steep
embankment was there.

635
00:29:41,573 --> 00:29:42,741
[gears engaging]

636
00:29:42,866 --> 00:29:44,826
It's like going on a tunnel

637
00:29:44,952 --> 00:29:46,870
because you had this
big metal superstructure

638
00:29:46,995 --> 00:29:49,915
above you,
on both sides of you.

639
00:29:50,415 --> 00:29:52,167
You can see only really

640
00:29:52,292 --> 00:29:55,212
to the end of the bridge
and then

641
00:29:55,504 --> 00:29:57,506
the highway goes up.

642
00:29:57,631 --> 00:30:00,634
So I couldn't see beyond
the end of the bridge.

643
00:30:01,051 --> 00:30:02,970
Out of nowhere, a tractor

644
00:30:03,095 --> 00:30:06,014
trailer truck
hit the car in his lane,

645
00:30:06,265 --> 00:30:09,393
then came over to my lane
and hit me head on.

646
00:30:09,518 --> 00:30:13,188
[Crash]

647
00:30:14,690 --> 00:30:16,733
[Thunder]

648
00:30:22,990 --> 00:30:25,450
Anita: When we approached
the bridge,

649
00:30:25,576 --> 00:30:27,953
the first thing on
the right

650
00:30:28,078 --> 00:30:31,123
was this large 18 wheeler,
and then the next

651
00:30:31,248 --> 00:30:33,667
thing on the left,
I believe, was a gray car.

652
00:30:33,792 --> 00:30:36,712
It had a single older
man in it.

653
00:30:37,796 --> 00:30:40,966
Then the next thing
was Don's red car

654
00:30:41,091 --> 00:30:43,385
that was all crushed
and smashed.

655
00:30:43,510 --> 00:30:46,054
So we were only
four vehicles on the bridge

656
00:30:46,179 --> 00:30:47,472
at that point.

657
00:30:47,598 --> 00:30:48,473
Swen Spujt: I was stationed

658
00:30:48,599 --> 00:30:50,100
{\an8}in Walker
County at the time.

659
00:30:50,225 --> 00:30:51,768
{\an8}I said,
How does it look for him?

660
00:30:51,893 --> 00:30:53,687
And they said,
"not good at all."

661
00:30:53,812 --> 00:30:56,064
That was, you know, just
something I never forgot.

662
00:30:56,189 --> 00:30:57,608
I mean, was seeing that

663
00:30:57,733 --> 00:30:59,901
it was a miserable,
miserable day.

664
00:31:00,027 --> 00:31:01,528
Don: Traffic is backed
up from miles

665
00:31:01,653 --> 00:31:03,655
in both directions
because at that time

666
00:31:03,780 --> 00:31:06,116
there was the only bridge
across that lake,

667
00:31:06,241 --> 00:31:07,284
in fact, Dick Onarecker.

668
00:31:07,451 --> 00:31:08,201
And Anita

669
00:31:08,327 --> 00:31:11,830
had to leave their car
and walk up on the bridge

670
00:31:11,955 --> 00:31:14,791
to get to where
the accident was.

671
00:31:14,916 --> 00:31:16,918
Anita: Police approached
Dick first and said,

672
00:31:17,044 --> 00:31:18,962
Don't even bother
with that man.

673
00:31:19,087 --> 00:31:21,590
I've already checked him
and he has no pulse.

674
00:31:21,715 --> 00:31:23,592
And then Dick did check,

675
00:31:23,717 --> 00:31:26,136
and he could not
identify any pulse.

676
00:31:26,261 --> 00:31:27,596
[music]

677
00:31:27,721 --> 00:31:30,641
Don: You could see from this
wrecking yard picture that

678
00:31:30,766 --> 00:31:33,727
the trajectory of the truck
as it went over.

679
00:31:33,852 --> 00:31:34,853
[music]

680
00:31:34,978 --> 00:31:37,773
When the truck hit me,
it literally took

681
00:31:37,898 --> 00:31:40,859
this arm over my shoulder
into the back seat.

682
00:31:41,902 --> 00:31:42,903
The steering wheel

683
00:31:43,028 --> 00:31:46,198
actually went horizontal
and into my chest

684
00:31:47,282 --> 00:31:50,202
My head had banged up
against the metal side

685
00:31:50,327 --> 00:31:53,288
of the interior of the car.

686
00:31:53,538 --> 00:31:56,541
My right leg
was broken at the knee,

687
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,504
but I must have slid on
the seat a little sideways

688
00:32:01,171 --> 00:32:02,881
because it hit
from that angle.

689
00:32:03,006 --> 00:32:06,051
And when it did, it
literally severed my left

690
00:32:06,176 --> 00:32:09,179
leg just above the knee,

691
00:32:10,097 --> 00:32:13,225
and four and a half
inches of the femur

692
00:32:13,558 --> 00:32:17,062
was ejected from the car
and actually never found.

693
00:32:17,938 --> 00:32:19,314
I had been
killed instantly.

694
00:32:19,439 --> 00:32:21,566
My heart was not beating,

695
00:32:21,692 --> 00:32:23,318
so it was not
pumping blood.

696
00:32:24,611 --> 00:32:27,614
I died on the bridge.

697
00:32:28,740 --> 00:32:30,409
[bird song]

698
00:32:34,079 --> 00:32:37,082
Dr. Neal: I'm a board certified
orthopedic spine surgeon

699
00:32:37,833 --> 00:32:42,754
{\an8}and physicians
spend their entire career

700
00:32:44,172 --> 00:32:45,549
{\an8}evading death.

701
00:32:45,674 --> 00:32:49,052
{\an8}We believe that
if we are smart enough,

702
00:32:49,428 --> 00:32:51,346
if we are
well-trained enough,

703
00:32:51,471 --> 00:32:54,808
and if we do a good enough
job that we can control

704
00:32:54,933 --> 00:32:57,936
the outcomes, that we can
control the variables

705
00:32:58,061 --> 00:33:01,064
and we can cheat death.

706
00:33:03,775 --> 00:33:06,862
My husband and I
were avid kayakers.

707
00:33:07,946 --> 00:33:10,031
Kayaking is

708
00:33:10,157 --> 00:33:13,160
both challenging
and exhilarating.

709
00:33:13,618 --> 00:33:16,371
We began to go down
the river.

710
00:33:16,496 --> 00:33:19,124
We went over
the first couple of drops.

711
00:33:19,249 --> 00:33:22,294
It was very high flow,
very high

712
00:33:22,419 --> 00:33:24,421
current, strong current.

713
00:33:24,546 --> 00:33:27,257
There is another client
that sort of bobbled

714
00:33:27,382 --> 00:33:29,301
her way past me and

715
00:33:29,426 --> 00:33:32,429
ended up sideways at the
entrance to the chute.

716
00:33:33,263 --> 00:33:36,183
So my only option
was to veer over

717
00:33:36,308 --> 00:33:38,435
and go over the
main part of the waterfall

718
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,521
[water splashing]

719
00:33:43,064 --> 00:33:45,192
and the
front end of my boat

720
00:33:45,317 --> 00:33:48,278
became pinned

721
00:33:48,653 --> 00:33:50,989
[waterfall sounds]
[music intensifying]

722
00:33:51,531 --> 00:33:53,325
and the boat and I
were then

723
00:33:53,450 --> 00:33:56,953
completely submerged under
8 to 10 feet of water.

724
00:33:58,246 --> 00:34:01,249
[waterfall sounds]

725
00:34:04,711 --> 00:34:08,006
I recognized that I was
probably going to drown.

726
00:34:09,132 --> 00:34:12,135
[waterfall sounds]

727
00:34:12,469 --> 00:34:15,388
I would think about
the fact that

728
00:34:15,514 --> 00:34:18,558
I must be dead,
but I didn't feel dead.

729
00:34:19,351 --> 00:34:22,312
I felt more alive
than I've ever felt.

730
00:34:24,689 --> 00:34:27,150
I felt this
incredible experience

731
00:34:27,275 --> 00:34:30,195
like I was just
part of the water.

732
00:34:30,737 --> 00:34:33,740
I felt magnificent, actually.

733
00:34:34,783 --> 00:34:37,869
I knew that
I was being held by Christ

734
00:34:39,079 --> 00:34:42,082
as purely as I know,

735
00:34:42,457 --> 00:34:43,708
anything.

736
00:34:45,418 --> 00:34:48,004
I know it sounds crazy,

737
00:34:48,129 --> 00:34:52,217
but it's just
something that

738
00:34:53,260 --> 00:34:56,263
is outside of our language.

739
00:34:57,472 --> 00:34:59,975
Peter Panagore: We went up a
world famous climb,

740
00:35:00,100 --> 00:35:02,602
maybe 500 feet,
three pitches up

741
00:35:02,727 --> 00:35:04,479
David Ditchfield: As the train
started pulling out,

742
00:35:04,604 --> 00:35:06,481
I just thought, This is it.
I'm going to die.

743
00:35:06,606 --> 00:35:08,650
Jeremain: I took a corner
to a 90 miles

744
00:35:08,775 --> 00:35:11,236
an hour, flipped over,
and it landed on the top.

745
00:35:11,361 --> 00:35:13,655
All I remember seeing was a
big white, white light.

746
00:35:13,780 --> 00:35:15,907
Kristen: The knife had gone all
the way through my liver.

747
00:35:16,032 --> 00:35:19,077
I had a punctured lung and
I started feeling myself

748
00:35:19,744 --> 00:35:20,745
leave my body.

749
00:35:20,871 --> 00:35:22,747
Oprah: You were in the hospital
bed, right?

750
00:35:22,873 --> 00:35:24,457
But you had left your body
and you

751
00:35:24,583 --> 00:35:26,501
Betty Eadie: My body was on
the bed and my spirit ...

752
00:35:26,626 --> 00:35:28,169
Peter: and I could see
in every direction.

753
00:35:28,295 --> 00:35:30,005
{\an8}Barbara: Up on the ceiling
looking down.

754
00:35:30,130 --> 00:35:32,883
{\an8}There was this feeling of a
presence. It felt like God

755
00:35:33,008 --> 00:35:34,801
David: Not like this guy
up in the sky.

756
00:35:34,968 --> 00:35:36,011
Anne: And that was God.

757
00:35:36,136 --> 00:35:37,137
I just know it was God

758
00:35:37,262 --> 00:35:39,097
Hila: The meaning of life,
of everything,

759
00:35:39,222 --> 00:35:41,182
Johnnie: It was unlike anything
I've ever experienced.

760
00:35:41,308 --> 00:35:42,893
David: I have no fear of death.

761
00:35:43,018 --> 00:35:45,604
Tom:...it's with total knowledge
and unconditional love...

762
00:35:45,729 --> 00:35:48,607
Hila: It was all the love that
is in the universe.

763
00:35:48,773 --> 00:35:50,901
Kirat: Death is not the end.
It's probably the beginning.

764
00:35:51,026 --> 00:35:52,319
Dean: I looked into his eyes,
It was like

765
00:35:52,444 --> 00:35:54,404
I was looking
at forever inside of him,

766
00:35:54,529 --> 00:35:55,822
and I could see the love
he had for me.

767
00:35:55,947 --> 00:35:57,657
Hillary: You know,
people don't believe you

768
00:35:57,782 --> 00:36:00,285
when you say the story,
but it's just so real.

769
00:36:00,452 --> 00:36:02,287
[music]

770
00:36:03,955 --> 00:36:07,125
Dr. Neal: Almost 30 minutes
had gone by.

771
00:36:07,292 --> 00:36:11,296
Enough time had passed
that they had shifted from

772
00:36:11,796 --> 00:36:15,216
a rescue mode to purely
a body recovery mode.

773
00:36:16,176 --> 00:36:20,221
I could see this
bloated purple body

774
00:36:20,347 --> 00:36:24,434
and I never felt alive
and then dead.

775
00:36:24,559 --> 00:36:27,646
I never felt conscious
and unconscious.

776
00:36:28,063 --> 00:36:30,774
I felt conscious
and then more conscious

777
00:36:30,899 --> 00:36:35,153
I felt alive
and then more alive.

778
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,909
Dr. Sabom: I came into this
thing skeptical, mean

779
00:36:41,034 --> 00:36:43,995
{\an8}I could have very easily
blown this whole thing off.

780
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:45,580
{\an8}If you go
to the resuscitation

781
00:36:45,705 --> 00:36:46,790
{\an8}for 20 minutes

782
00:36:46,915 --> 00:36:47,582
{\an8}and you've been

783
00:36:47,707 --> 00:36:50,627
{\an8}without oxygen
for 20 minutes or whatever,

784
00:36:51,544 --> 00:36:53,838
you're going to lose
some neurons,

785
00:36:53,964 --> 00:36:55,173
You're going to
have brain damage.

786
00:36:55,298 --> 00:36:56,967
You may not
live either.

787
00:36:57,092 --> 00:36:59,761
You'll die a
neurologic death

788
00:36:59,886 --> 00:37:02,847
general rule is, the longer
without the oxygen.

789
00:37:03,181 --> 00:37:06,851
Normally, the more brain
damage you're going to have,

790
00:37:07,227 --> 00:37:10,897
and it's progressive
until it's restored.

791
00:37:12,190 --> 00:37:14,317
CBS News: A new study may
provide answers

792
00:37:14,442 --> 00:37:15,527
{\an8}to the age old question

793
00:37:15,652 --> 00:37:18,613
{\an8}What happens to our brains
when we die?

794
00:37:19,322 --> 00:37:20,490
[music]

795
00:37:20,615 --> 00:37:24,661
{\an8}Dr. Zemmar: The brain has always
been the most fascinating

796
00:37:24,869 --> 00:37:26,079
{\an8}and the most interesting

797
00:37:26,204 --> 00:37:27,956
{\an8}organ to me
because to the world

798
00:37:28,081 --> 00:37:30,208
{\an8}it is completely
unexplored.

799
00:37:30,333 --> 00:37:32,252
I was working in Vancouver
at the Vancouver

800
00:37:32,377 --> 00:37:33,378
General Hospital.

801
00:37:33,503 --> 00:37:35,797
This was the 87 year
old gentleman.

802
00:37:35,922 --> 00:37:38,842
He came during
the emergency shift

803
00:37:39,426 --> 00:37:43,304
with a bleed between
the brain and the skull.

804
00:37:43,430 --> 00:37:46,391
We call it
a subdural hematoma.

805
00:37:46,725 --> 00:37:49,019
And we decided to operate.

806
00:37:49,144 --> 00:37:50,687
We removed the skull.

807
00:37:50,812 --> 00:37:52,022
We removed the bleeding.

808
00:37:52,147 --> 00:37:53,815
He did fairly well
after the surgery

809
00:37:53,940 --> 00:37:55,859
for about three days.

810
00:37:56,109 --> 00:37:58,737
And then he started
having seizures.

811
00:37:58,862 --> 00:38:02,574
So we went and applied
an EEG to see

812
00:38:02,699 --> 00:38:04,701
where the seizures
are coming from

813
00:38:04,826 --> 00:38:06,327
and how to treat them.

814
00:38:06,453 --> 00:38:08,329
Once we had this applied,

815
00:38:08,621 --> 00:38:10,457
he had a heart
attack and died.

816
00:38:11,166 --> 00:38:12,500
[music]

817
00:38:12,625 --> 00:38:14,669
So that left us with

818
00:38:14,794 --> 00:38:18,214
the rare recording
of the human brain

819
00:38:18,339 --> 00:38:20,050
that went from a life
to death.

820
00:38:20,175 --> 00:38:20,925
[flatline tone]

821
00:38:21,051 --> 00:38:24,763
CBS: It's the first ever
recording of a dying human

822
00:38:24,888 --> 00:38:27,891
brain, one that happened
entirely by chance.

823
00:38:28,016 --> 00:38:29,851
We've heard about people

824
00:38:29,976 --> 00:38:32,395
{\an8}before who have faced
near death experiences.

825
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,522
{\an8}Describe this moment

826
00:38:34,647 --> 00:38:36,232
where they were
the important moments

827
00:38:36,357 --> 00:38:38,234
in their life
flashed before their head.

828
00:38:38,359 --> 00:38:39,778
Is that
what we're talking about?

829
00:38:39,903 --> 00:38:41,488
Is that what this is?

830
00:38:41,613 --> 00:38:42,781
- Dr.
- Zemmar: From what
this case of

831
00:38:42,906 --> 00:38:43,740
One tells us

832
00:38:43,865 --> 00:38:45,784
all the things
they are consistently

833
00:38:45,909 --> 00:38:48,495
being described
by people who undergo

834
00:38:48,620 --> 00:38:50,080
near-death experience.

835
00:38:50,205 --> 00:38:52,916
These guys have exhibited
these brain waves

836
00:38:53,041 --> 00:38:55,960
that exactly the same ones
we're measuring

837
00:38:56,086 --> 00:38:59,464
when we record the activity
of this patient

838
00:38:59,839 --> 00:39:00,507
30 seconds

839
00:39:00,632 --> 00:39:02,217
before the heart stops
beating

840
00:39:02,342 --> 00:39:05,303
and 30 seconds after
the heart stops beating,

841
00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:07,889
that we found
was quite astonishing.

842
00:39:08,932 --> 00:39:11,101
After searching
and searching,

843
00:39:11,226 --> 00:39:14,437
we had not found anybody
at the time when we wrote

844
00:39:14,562 --> 00:39:16,481
the manuscript
and submitted it

845
00:39:16,606 --> 00:39:19,901
that had full brain
recordings

846
00:39:20,026 --> 00:39:21,820
from the dying human brain.

847
00:39:21,945 --> 00:39:24,948
Under acute
clinical environments.

848
00:39:25,615 --> 00:39:28,743
brain waves
are always present

849
00:39:29,035 --> 00:39:31,746
{\an8}in our brain.

850
00:39:31,871 --> 00:39:34,999
{\an8}They differ in frequency,

851
00:39:35,125 --> 00:39:39,629
{\an8}meaning how many times
per second they oscillate.

852
00:39:40,004 --> 00:39:44,884
The high frequency waves
are called gamma waves.

853
00:39:45,510 --> 00:39:48,138
Then the lower ones
we call them

854
00:39:48,263 --> 00:39:51,266
beta, theta,
alpha and delta waves.

855
00:39:51,641 --> 00:39:54,811
Those are slower
frequent oscillations.

856
00:39:54,936 --> 00:39:58,940
We found
an increased interplay

857
00:39:59,065 --> 00:40:02,026
of these oscillatory bands
with each other.

858
00:40:02,152 --> 00:40:03,236
[music]

859
00:40:03,361 --> 00:40:06,573
We looked at how this,
for example,

860
00:40:07,323 --> 00:40:10,743
theta waves that are
known for memory recall,

861
00:40:10,869 --> 00:40:14,539
how do they couple
with gamma waves?

862
00:40:14,956 --> 00:40:17,542
And we found an increased
coupling of the

863
00:40:17,667 --> 00:40:20,545
two after a heart
stopped beating.

864
00:40:20,670 --> 00:40:23,464
The brain is a prediction
machine that is designed

865
00:40:23,590 --> 00:40:24,424
for survival.

866
00:40:25,592 --> 00:40:26,634
So we see something,

867
00:40:26,759 --> 00:40:27,886
we interpret the signal,

868
00:40:28,011 --> 00:40:29,637
we generate a response

869
00:40:30,388 --> 00:40:33,850
in all kinds of responses
that the brain generates.

870
00:40:34,809 --> 00:40:38,605
The only one we can measure
right now is movement.

871
00:40:38,771 --> 00:40:39,647
[music]

872
00:40:39,898 --> 00:40:42,775
We can't measure
what we call thinking.

873
00:40:42,901 --> 00:40:44,360
Can you measure emotions?

874
00:40:44,485 --> 00:40:45,153
Feelings?

875
00:40:45,278 --> 00:40:46,321
I don't know what
to answer you.

876
00:40:46,446 --> 00:40:48,239
We can't measure
all these things.

877
00:40:48,364 --> 00:40:51,367
We know that the brain
somehow does these things.

878
00:40:51,993 --> 00:40:53,077
We may never understand

879
00:40:53,203 --> 00:40:54,621
what exactly happens.

880
00:40:54,746 --> 00:40:56,080
And maybe that's not the most

881
00:40:56,206 --> 00:40:57,916
important thing either.

882
00:40:58,499 --> 00:40:59,626
If the science

883
00:40:59,751 --> 00:41:02,587
can contribute even
a minute percentage

884
00:41:02,712 --> 00:41:04,797
and can shed light

885
00:41:04,923 --> 00:41:08,218
on the nature
of the human brain dying.

886
00:41:08,593 --> 00:41:10,011
If I could go to
my patients

887
00:41:10,136 --> 00:41:11,554
and I could tell them,

888
00:41:11,679 --> 00:41:15,308
it may be that your loved
one is replaying

889
00:41:15,433 --> 00:41:17,268
some of the memories
of their life.

890
00:41:18,895 --> 00:41:21,898
It somehow
makes things easier.

891
00:41:22,106 --> 00:41:24,776
It tells them
they're not suffering.

892
00:41:24,901 --> 00:41:27,862
That, I think, would help
patients in that

893
00:41:27,987 --> 00:41:30,949
tremendously
difficult time.

894
00:41:31,366 --> 00:41:32,784
[music]

895
00:41:36,537 --> 00:41:37,914
[pages turn]

896
00:41:38,206 --> 00:41:39,707
[music]

897
00:41:41,459 --> 00:41:43,378
{\an8}Kang: Growing up in South Korea.

898
00:41:43,503 --> 00:41:45,004
{\an8}I grew up in a
Buddhist home.

899
00:41:45,129 --> 00:41:46,506
{\an8}Ever since the age
of six, seven,

900
00:41:46,631 --> 00:41:50,551
{\an8}I was asking questions
like, Why are humans made?

901
00:41:50,677 --> 00:41:52,679
Why are we born?

902
00:41:52,804 --> 00:41:55,223
What is the purpose
of mankind?

903
00:41:55,348 --> 00:41:57,392
Why am I here?

904
00:41:57,517 --> 00:41:58,935
The Buddhist
monks at the temple

905
00:41:59,060 --> 00:42:00,561
would say things like,
Oh yeah, Steve,

906
00:42:00,687 --> 00:42:02,397
you can go to heaven,
you can go to hell,

907
00:42:02,522 --> 00:42:03,314
come back,

908
00:42:03,439 --> 00:42:04,482
you can get reincarnated

909
00:42:04,607 --> 00:42:06,567
into an animal
or a different species.

910
00:42:06,693 --> 00:42:08,528
They taught you how to do
right and do wrong,

911
00:42:08,653 --> 00:42:10,697
and try to earn
your salvation.

912
00:42:10,822 --> 00:42:13,658
My mother, who was trained
as a registered nurse,

913
00:42:13,783 --> 00:42:14,450
she got recruited

914
00:42:14,575 --> 00:42:17,537
by a VA veterans
hospital in Boston.

915
00:42:18,371 --> 00:42:20,081
You know, she prepared
the way for us to come.

916
00:42:20,206 --> 00:42:22,458
So I came with my younger
brother in elementary school.

917
00:42:22,709 --> 00:42:24,669
[music]

918
00:42:26,671 --> 00:42:27,463
Kang: The older I got,

919
00:42:27,588 --> 00:42:30,091
middle school and
even up to freshman year,

920
00:42:30,216 --> 00:42:31,968
and I remember
feeling a lot of confusion.

921
00:42:32,093 --> 00:42:33,803
I remember looking
in the mirror and saying,

922
00:42:33,928 --> 00:42:35,513
How come I'm the only one?

923
00:42:35,638 --> 00:42:37,849
How come I have
to be Korean?

924
00:42:37,974 --> 00:42:40,393
And it was a big struggle
and led me to become

925
00:42:40,518 --> 00:42:41,352
a little rebellious.

926
00:42:41,477 --> 00:42:44,188
Like I joined the garage
band. I tried to...

927
00:42:44,314 --> 00:42:45,356
I think I tried
a little harder

928
00:42:45,481 --> 00:42:48,443
than others
to try to fit in.

929
00:42:49,235 --> 00:42:51,779
And I just remember,
you know, always feeling

930
00:42:51,904 --> 00:42:54,782
a little empty, feeling
confusion and emptiness.

931
00:42:54,907 --> 00:42:56,242
You know, from high school.

932
00:42:59,037 --> 00:43:00,997
I remember
in the summer of 1998,

933
00:43:01,122 --> 00:43:03,041
we will get high
in the morning,

934
00:43:03,166 --> 00:43:05,752
in the afternoon, in the
evening, the whole summer.

935
00:43:05,877 --> 00:43:08,254
I don't remember
being sober for an hour.

936
00:43:08,379 --> 00:43:11,215
And my mom and brother
were getting super worried.

937
00:43:11,341 --> 00:43:12,842
I called the Buddhist
temple for help.

938
00:43:12,967 --> 00:43:14,052
They didn't help either.

939
00:43:14,177 --> 00:43:14,969
So I realized, like,

940
00:43:15,094 --> 00:43:18,556
this is something that is
beyond my power ability to

941
00:43:19,015 --> 00:43:20,683
to to save myself from.

942
00:43:23,019 --> 00:43:24,687
You know, people
say when they see demons

943
00:43:24,812 --> 00:43:26,230
or evil spirits,
they might think

944
00:43:26,356 --> 00:43:28,941
somebody comes
with a pitchfork and horns.

945
00:43:29,067 --> 00:43:30,485
But I had an open eye

946
00:43:30,610 --> 00:43:32,653
vision of all Asian
grandpa coming.

947
00:43:32,779 --> 00:43:34,572
He's talking to me
like I'm talking to you.

948
00:43:34,697 --> 00:43:35,490
He said, Hey, Steve,
I know you're

949
00:43:35,615 --> 00:43:36,366
having a hard time.

950
00:43:36,532 --> 00:43:39,660
If you commit suicide
and take your own life,

951
00:43:40,036 --> 00:43:42,997
then I can give you 50,000
less years of hell.

952
00:43:43,122 --> 00:43:44,707
And I'm like,
That's a great deal.

953
00:43:44,957 --> 00:43:46,376
[music]

954
00:43:46,501 --> 00:43:47,960
I went to the kitchen.

955
00:43:48,086 --> 00:43:50,171
I grabbed the biggest
knife I could find.

956
00:43:50,296 --> 00:43:52,131
Got on my knees.

957
00:43:52,256 --> 00:43:53,091
So I grabbed a knife

958
00:43:53,216 --> 00:43:54,842
and I cut my
neck open here,

959
00:43:55,426 --> 00:43:58,096
which, you know,
was very painful.

960
00:43:58,429 --> 00:44:00,098
My mom sees the
event happening,

961
00:44:00,223 --> 00:44:01,933
so she calls 911.

962
00:44:02,058 --> 00:44:04,102
The cops came,
and then there's

963
00:44:04,227 --> 00:44:06,229
the Grandpa spirit is
still there speaking to me,

964
00:44:06,354 --> 00:44:07,105
says, Steve,
you got to hurry up.

965
00:44:07,230 --> 00:44:08,523
You're going
to miss your chance.

966
00:44:08,648 --> 00:44:09,440
Go for the stomach.

967
00:44:09,565 --> 00:44:14,153
So I cut my stomach open,
which actually is,

968
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:16,406
you know, the scars
go down all the way here.

969
00:44:16,531 --> 00:44:18,741
I lost a big part
of my blood.

970
00:44:19,909 --> 00:44:22,912
The cops came
and whacked me with a bat.

971
00:44:23,204 --> 00:44:24,997
I dropped the knife.

972
00:44:25,123 --> 00:44:27,583
I remember
losing consciousness.

973
00:44:27,708 --> 00:44:29,001
The whole living was
bloody red.

974
00:44:29,127 --> 00:44:31,796
My mom was crying.
I remember hearing her.

975
00:44:31,921 --> 00:44:33,005
They put me
in the stretcher

976
00:44:33,131 --> 00:44:34,882
because already I'm
very damaged.

977
00:44:35,007 --> 00:44:37,260
I'm losing blood,
like at a very fast rate

978
00:44:37,385 --> 00:44:39,387
and I'm going in of conscious.

979
00:44:39,512 --> 00:44:41,222
The grandpa spirits gone

980
00:44:41,347 --> 00:44:43,641
and then it was just into
the unknown after that.

981
00:44:44,225 --> 00:44:45,435
I remember coming out,

982
00:44:45,852 --> 00:44:49,480
seeing my body and then
seeing the E.R. room.

983
00:44:49,605 --> 00:44:53,943
I remember going through
just darkness, like even

984
00:44:54,068 --> 00:44:57,071
seeing rocks and stones
around me just falling.

985
00:44:57,738 --> 00:45:00,241
It just felt like I was
falling in an elevator.

986
00:45:00,366 --> 00:45:03,327
And I don't know how to
put it into words exactly,

987
00:45:03,661 --> 00:45:05,455
but I knew I was going
to a different place.

988
00:45:05,580 --> 00:45:07,123
There was still real,

989
00:45:07,248 --> 00:45:09,292
more real than anything
here on Earth.

990
00:45:09,417 --> 00:45:10,585
I was still fully
conscious.

991
00:45:10,710 --> 00:45:11,627
Everything's happening,

992
00:45:11,752 --> 00:45:13,129
but now it's like

993
00:45:13,254 --> 00:45:14,380
there's different
set of rules,

994
00:45:14,505 --> 00:45:17,300
there's a different set
of awarenesses.

995
00:45:17,425 --> 00:45:19,093
And you're saying
goodbye to Earth.

996
00:45:19,218 --> 00:45:21,179
I knew I was saying
goodbye to Earth.

997
00:45:21,304 --> 00:45:24,265
And going to
another place of eternity.

998
00:45:24,515 --> 00:45:26,893
And then God came to me
and like a ball of light,

999
00:45:27,018 --> 00:45:28,603
that became
like a triangle.

1000
00:45:29,437 --> 00:45:31,689
Behind it I saw the city,

1001
00:45:31,814 --> 00:45:34,025
I looked up and it was
glittering like gold.

1002
00:45:34,150 --> 00:45:35,359
The walls were gold.

1003
00:45:35,526 --> 00:45:36,611
[music]

1004
00:45:36,736 --> 00:45:37,612
I don't know how it works,

1005
00:45:37,737 --> 00:45:40,656
but it's definitely
a place we go.

1006
00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:44,118
I heard a voice
before I woke up.

1007
00:45:44,243 --> 00:45:45,661
I love you.

1008
00:45:45,786 --> 00:45:48,748
And I open my eyes and I'm
in the emergency room.

1009
00:45:48,873 --> 00:45:51,667
I was like,
Oh my God, I'm alive.

1010
00:45:51,792 --> 00:45:53,294
So first of all, I was
so thankful I was alive.

1011
00:45:53,419 --> 00:45:55,671
I look around,
my mom's there,

1012
00:45:55,796 --> 00:45:58,508
she's crying, grabbing
my hand, son, you know,

1013
00:45:58,633 --> 00:46:00,635
you, you regained
consciousness.

1014
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:03,054
And I was still trying
to process what happened,

1015
00:46:03,179 --> 00:46:04,597
but I just knew
I was back on Earth.

1016
00:46:06,724 --> 00:46:09,352
They said it took two
surgeries to cover

1017
00:46:09,477 --> 00:46:10,645
the blood vessels
that were cut.

1018
00:46:10,770 --> 00:46:13,397
A specialist had to fly in
at the last minute,

1019
00:46:13,523 --> 00:46:15,024
and if he was late,
they told me I would

1020
00:46:15,149 --> 00:46:16,359
have been bye, bye forever.

1021
00:46:16,484 --> 00:46:18,402
My heart and blood wouldn't
go back up.

1022
00:46:18,528 --> 00:46:20,112
We just kept
sinking, sinking, sinking,

1023
00:46:20,238 --> 00:46:21,572
during the whole surgery.

1024
00:46:21,697 --> 00:46:23,199
And they said
it was a miracle.

1025
00:46:23,324 --> 00:46:24,242
Good timing.

1026
00:46:25,201 --> 00:46:26,619
[slow rumbling]

1027
00:46:28,913 --> 00:46:32,291
I know one thing, we all
live once and die once.

1028
00:46:32,416 --> 00:46:34,794
And there is
judgment after.

1029
00:46:35,545 --> 00:46:37,755
[low rumbles]

1030
00:46:42,552 --> 00:46:43,386
Dr. Sabom: I think
that there are

1031
00:46:43,511 --> 00:46:47,306
a lot of people that do
take advantage of this.

1032
00:46:47,598 --> 00:46:49,850
The novelty
and the fascination

1033
00:46:49,976 --> 00:46:52,853
of this experience.

1034
00:46:52,979 --> 00:46:55,064
We're all to die
and we all want to know

1035
00:46:55,189 --> 00:46:56,732
what's going to happen
once that happens.

1036
00:46:56,857 --> 00:46:57,900
So, I mean,

1037
00:46:58,025 --> 00:47:01,612
this is speaking to us all.
And of great importance.

1038
00:47:02,738 --> 00:47:05,741
That can be abused.

1039
00:47:06,951 --> 00:47:09,412
Some of these these cases

1040
00:47:09,537 --> 00:47:11,872
are transmitted through

1041
00:47:11,998 --> 00:47:14,709
several different people
before they get in print.

1042
00:47:14,834 --> 00:47:16,252
And they get
a lot of attention

1043
00:47:16,377 --> 00:47:17,461
because they're fantastic.

1044
00:47:17,587 --> 00:47:19,046
But what I've tried to

1045
00:47:19,171 --> 00:47:22,466
do is remove
some of the subjectivity

1046
00:47:23,134 --> 00:47:26,053
to these experiences.

1047
00:47:26,178 --> 00:47:28,347
And put data out there

1048
00:47:28,472 --> 00:47:31,892
that's been scientifically,
rigorously collected.

1049
00:47:32,977 --> 00:47:34,812
There's no way
you can verify

1050
00:47:34,937 --> 00:47:37,315
the transcendental part
of the experience.

1051
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:38,899
The person feels like they go

1052
00:47:39,025 --> 00:47:41,360
to an otherworldly
environment

1053
00:47:41,485 --> 00:47:42,987
as opposed
to their environment

1054
00:47:43,112 --> 00:47:44,822
right there in the room
with them.

1055
00:47:44,947 --> 00:47:46,949
{\an8}Mr. Burke: What really convinced
me and what convinced

1056
00:47:47,074 --> 00:47:51,162
{\an8}many skeptical doctors,
oncologist, cardiologist,

1057
00:47:51,412 --> 00:47:54,999
{\an8}is that when people
initially leave their body,

1058
00:47:55,291 --> 00:47:56,626
they say that many times

1059
00:47:56,751 --> 00:47:57,835
they were in the room

1060
00:47:57,960 --> 00:48:00,880
still where they were being
resuscitated or worked on

1061
00:48:01,047 --> 00:48:01,714
many times up

1062
00:48:01,839 --> 00:48:04,759
near the ceiling,
looking down, watching.

1063
00:48:04,925 --> 00:48:07,053
They felt incredible peace,
even though

1064
00:48:07,178 --> 00:48:08,137
it was chaotic.

1065
00:48:09,513 --> 00:48:11,098
oftentimes in the room

1066
00:48:11,223 --> 00:48:13,225
where they were
working on their body,

1067
00:48:14,226 --> 00:48:16,437
When they would come back,

1068
00:48:16,562 --> 00:48:19,523
they were able to give
corroborative evidence

1069
00:48:19,982 --> 00:48:21,609
that they actually saw

1070
00:48:21,734 --> 00:48:22,860
what was going on
in the room,

1071
00:48:22,985 --> 00:48:24,654
even though
they were unconscious

1072
00:48:24,779 --> 00:48:26,947
at the time they
were worked on.

1073
00:48:27,073 --> 00:48:30,034
They shouldn't have
been able to see this.

1074
00:48:30,493 --> 00:48:33,829
Dr. Sabom: Autoscopic means
self-visualization.

1075
00:48:33,954 --> 00:48:37,375
They were visualizing
themself from the ceiling,

1076
00:48:37,541 --> 00:48:41,128
lying in bed, lifeless,
or being resuscitated.

1077
00:48:42,546 --> 00:48:45,174
That is the verifiable part

1078
00:48:45,299 --> 00:48:47,426
of a near-death experience,
where you can go back

1079
00:48:47,551 --> 00:48:49,345
and either verify what
they said they saw

1080
00:48:49,470 --> 00:48:51,222
or what
actually occurred.

1081
00:48:51,347 --> 00:48:53,349
And that's what I wanted.

1082
00:48:53,474 --> 00:48:54,517
That was the main thing

1083
00:48:54,642 --> 00:48:56,769
that got me hooked
on this thing.

1084
00:48:56,894 --> 00:48:58,771
And I paid
very little attention

1085
00:48:58,896 --> 00:49:01,399
to the tunnel, the light,
the deceased relatives

1086
00:49:01,524 --> 00:49:03,818
and friends,
the religious figures.

1087
00:49:03,943 --> 00:49:07,196
For me as a
cardiologist, scientist,

1088
00:49:07,321 --> 00:49:08,489
and a physician,

1089
00:49:08,614 --> 00:49:10,199
I wanted some verification,

1090
00:49:10,324 --> 00:49:12,034
I wanted
some medical records.

1091
00:49:12,159 --> 00:49:14,870
I wanted to talk to people
who had been there

1092
00:49:14,995 --> 00:49:17,998
and seen what had
happened in the room.

1093
00:49:19,625 --> 00:49:22,294
[light music]

1094
00:49:26,382 --> 00:49:27,842
Dr. Greene: Back in
the early 1990s,

1095
00:49:27,967 --> 00:49:30,553
when I was a resident
training and neurosurgery

1096
00:49:30,678 --> 00:49:33,681
at Phoenix and at the Barrow
Neurological Institute,

1097
00:49:33,806 --> 00:49:36,392
one of the best places
to go in the world.

1098
00:49:36,517 --> 00:49:39,437
It was a destination center
for neurosurgery.

1099
00:49:40,146 --> 00:49:41,522
{\an8}I was on the Chairman
Service,

1100
00:49:41,647 --> 00:49:44,066
{\an8}Dr. Robert Spetzler

1101
00:49:44,191 --> 00:49:47,403
and Dr. Spetzler is
world renowned.

1102
00:49:47,528 --> 00:49:49,196
There was a patient
who came to him

1103
00:49:49,321 --> 00:49:51,240
named Pamela Reynolds,

1104
00:49:52,575 --> 00:49:55,119
Dr. Spetzler: What we're looking
at is the aneurysm that she had.

1105
00:49:55,244 --> 00:49:57,246
Which is at the very
base of the brain.

1106
00:49:57,371 --> 00:49:59,331
{\an8}This is the balloon
that can burst

1107
00:49:59,457 --> 00:50:02,209
{\an8}and cause this
incredible catastrophe.

1108
00:50:02,334 --> 00:50:05,045
It's all the way at the
very base of the brain.

1109
00:50:05,171 --> 00:50:06,839
And that is why it's so

1110
00:50:06,964 --> 00:50:08,466
incredibly difficult
to get there.

1111
00:50:08,591 --> 00:50:10,593
Dr. Greene: The anatomical
location of the basal

1112
00:50:10,718 --> 00:50:13,721
artery is a neurosurgeons
no man's land.

1113
00:50:14,472 --> 00:50:16,432
She underwent an operation.

1114
00:50:16,557 --> 00:50:17,308
Again,

1115
00:50:17,433 --> 00:50:20,060
pretty unusual operation
called cardiac standstill.

1116
00:50:20,186 --> 00:50:22,021
I came in several times
into the operating room

1117
00:50:22,146 --> 00:50:23,355
because it's a cardiac

1118
00:50:23,481 --> 00:50:25,483
standstill case
and they're fascinating.

1119
00:50:25,608 --> 00:50:28,402
Dr. Sabom: If you were going to
do a laboratory experiment,

1120
00:50:28,527 --> 00:50:30,196
this is the perfect
experiment.

1121
00:50:30,321 --> 00:50:32,198
She was put on the
operating room table

1122
00:50:32,323 --> 00:50:35,284
and immediately put under
general anesthesia.

1123
00:50:35,743 --> 00:50:38,120
Dr. Greene: The cardiac
standstill operation requires

1124
00:50:38,245 --> 00:50:41,248
teams of medical providers,
surgical providers,

1125
00:50:41,457 --> 00:50:42,750
all of which is designed to:

1126
00:50:42,875 --> 00:50:46,045
1. drop the temperature of
a person's body.

1127
00:50:46,170 --> 00:50:49,507
2. Drain out all the blood
out of their body.

1128
00:50:49,632 --> 00:50:53,552
3. Keep them in a state
of suspended animation,

1129
00:50:54,011 --> 00:50:55,888
shut down brain function.

1130
00:50:56,013 --> 00:50:57,640
And you've actually
stopped the heart.

1131
00:50:57,765 --> 00:50:59,391
[backround noises
and conversations]

1132
00:51:00,100 --> 00:51:02,520
Dr. Sabom: They had these things
in her ears

1133
00:51:02,645 --> 00:51:06,524
that emitted 95 to 100
decibel clicks.

1134
00:51:06,649 --> 00:51:08,192
If the click went off

1135
00:51:08,317 --> 00:51:11,403
and you saw spike
on the EEG

1136
00:51:11,529 --> 00:51:13,781
that was measuring
the brain stem,

1137
00:51:13,906 --> 00:51:16,534
then you knew
the brainstem was active.

1138
00:51:16,659 --> 00:51:18,077
Dr. Greene: No heart
that's beating,

1139
00:51:18,202 --> 00:51:21,831
a brain that's no
longer functioning.

1140
00:51:21,956 --> 00:51:23,415
Dr. Sabom: And what they had to
do is get it

1141
00:51:23,541 --> 00:51:26,377
so that those clicks
were eliciting no

1142
00:51:26,502 --> 00:51:29,421
brainstem reactivity, i.e.

1143
00:51:29,547 --> 00:51:31,006
it was flatlined.

1144
00:51:32,508 --> 00:51:35,261
So was pretty
much totally isolated

1145
00:51:35,386 --> 00:51:37,638
from the environment
physically.

1146
00:51:37,763 --> 00:51:41,183
And medically,
she was in a--

1147
00:51:41,308 --> 00:51:43,686
that's why they call
procedure standstill.

1148
00:51:43,811 --> 00:51:45,563
Everything
was at a standstill.

1149
00:51:46,814 --> 00:51:47,982
Tom Wilkinson: She would be
clinically dead

1150
00:51:48,107 --> 00:51:50,317
for a whole hour
of the operation.

1151
00:51:50,776 --> 00:51:52,319
[music]

1152
00:51:52,444 --> 00:51:55,281
Dr. Sabom: She had a three part
near-death experience.

1153
00:51:55,406 --> 00:51:57,741
The first part
was out-of-body,

1154
00:51:57,867 --> 00:51:59,285
autoscopic part,

1155
00:51:59,410 --> 00:52:02,663
When Spetzler first started
up the brain saw

1156
00:52:03,414 --> 00:52:06,208
she heard the conversation
between Spetzler and

1157
00:52:06,333 --> 00:52:07,501
the surgeon

1158
00:52:07,626 --> 00:52:09,753
about the artery
being too small

1159
00:52:09,879 --> 00:52:11,005
in her right
femoral artery,

1160
00:52:11,130 --> 00:52:13,549
and they had to switch
over to the left.

1161
00:52:13,674 --> 00:52:14,717
The visual part.

1162
00:52:14,842 --> 00:52:18,721
She saw the bone saw,
which I didn't even know

1163
00:52:18,846 --> 00:52:21,765
what it looked like myself
as a cardiologist.

1164
00:52:21,891 --> 00:52:23,475
{\an8}Pam: And I was then
looking down at the body.

1165
00:52:23,601 --> 00:52:26,937
{\an8}I knew it was my body,
but I didn't care.

1166
00:52:27,688 --> 00:52:29,815
My vantage
point was sort of

1167
00:52:29,940 --> 00:52:32,067
sitting on the doctor's
shoulder.

1168
00:52:32,192 --> 00:52:35,279
I remember the instrument
in his hand.

1169
00:52:36,113 --> 00:52:39,909
It looked like the handle
of my electric toothbrush.

1170
00:52:40,034 --> 00:52:42,995
Dr. Sabom: And then she said
that there was this tray

1171
00:52:43,495 --> 00:52:47,291
of instruments
to the right of Spetzler,

1172
00:52:47,541 --> 00:52:50,252
that it looked like
the socket wrench set that

1173
00:52:50,377 --> 00:52:51,587
her father used to have.

1174
00:52:53,130 --> 00:52:56,091
And then the other stuff
was the same autoscopic.

1175
00:52:56,216 --> 00:52:58,427
And in between
those two experiences,

1176
00:52:58,552 --> 00:52:59,637
which she relates

1177
00:52:59,762 --> 00:53:02,765
the experience
as a continuous experience,

1178
00:53:03,390 --> 00:53:05,225
she had the transcendental
experience.

1179
00:53:05,351 --> 00:53:06,560
Pam: I felt a presence.

1180
00:53:06,685 --> 00:53:08,062
I sort of turned around

1181
00:53:08,187 --> 00:53:10,564
to look at a
pin-point of light.

1182
00:53:10,689 --> 00:53:12,858
Dr. Sabom: Well, how do you know
the transcendental

1183
00:53:12,983 --> 00:53:14,610
experience happened

1184
00:53:14,735 --> 00:53:16,779
when the blood was drained
out of her head?

1185
00:53:16,904 --> 00:53:18,906
Well, you don't.

1186
00:53:19,031 --> 00:53:21,283
All you can do is infer it.

1187
00:53:21,408 --> 00:53:22,576
You can't prove it.

1188
00:53:22,701 --> 00:53:24,745
The other two are
time anchored.

1189
00:53:24,870 --> 00:53:27,081
The middle is not.

1190
00:53:27,623 --> 00:53:29,291
[medical equipment beeping]

1191
00:53:30,084 --> 00:53:31,377
Dr. Greene: Pam came back,

1192
00:53:32,169 --> 00:53:34,296
I believe,
the following day.

1193
00:53:35,214 --> 00:53:36,882
As with every patient,
I'm rounding on her

1194
00:53:37,007 --> 00:53:39,635
in the intensive care unit
before the chairman rounds

1195
00:53:39,760 --> 00:53:42,763
and she's awake
talking with me.

1196
00:53:43,263 --> 00:53:44,515
You know, usually ask the

1197
00:53:44,640 --> 00:53:45,975
typical questions
How are you feeling?

1198
00:53:46,100 --> 00:53:48,644
{\an8}after that tube was removed
from her by extubation

1199
00:53:48,769 --> 00:53:50,396
{\an8}and she was able
to control her airway

1200
00:53:50,521 --> 00:53:52,564
{\an8}and she was becoming
more lucid?

1201
00:53:52,690 --> 00:53:54,692
Well, she
had a lot to talk about.

1202
00:53:55,693 --> 00:53:56,652
She began to

1203
00:53:56,777 --> 00:53:59,780
describe some details
about her operation.

1204
00:54:00,322 --> 00:54:02,533
And as she spoke,

1205
00:54:02,658 --> 00:54:04,868
I became spooked.

1206
00:54:07,246 --> 00:54:09,707
She talked about her
blood vessels and her

1207
00:54:09,832 --> 00:54:12,793
groin, being canulated
and being too small.

1208
00:54:12,918 --> 00:54:14,211
[music]

1209
00:54:14,336 --> 00:54:17,297
She talked about her
heart being shocked twice.

1210
00:54:18,549 --> 00:54:21,552
Giving me details that
she just shouldn't know.

1211
00:54:22,052 --> 00:54:25,055
I sort of put the kibosh
on the conversation.

1212
00:54:25,723 --> 00:54:28,017
"Pam, you need
to get some rest.

1213
00:54:28,142 --> 00:54:29,643
I'll come back later."

1214
00:54:29,768 --> 00:54:30,686
I went to my chairman

1215
00:54:30,811 --> 00:54:33,480
and told Dr. Spetzler,

1216
00:54:33,605 --> 00:54:35,858
"You need to talk
with Pam Reynolds.

1217
00:54:36,692 --> 00:54:39,695
She's describing stuff that
she just shouldn't know.

1218
00:54:40,195 --> 00:54:42,698
This ain't right."

1219
00:54:44,074 --> 00:54:45,034
Functionally speaking,

1220
00:54:45,159 --> 00:54:46,952
Pam, was dead.

1221
00:54:47,995 --> 00:54:50,873
Dr. Moody: Typically, when
people are coming out of a dream

1222
00:54:50,998 --> 00:54:51,707
in the morning,

1223
00:54:51,832 --> 00:54:54,752
they feel like they're
coming back to reality.

1224
00:54:55,085 --> 00:54:58,505
But people who have
a near-death experience

1225
00:54:58,630 --> 00:55:01,383
say that is they
go into that experience,

1226
00:55:01,633 --> 00:55:04,511
it's this life
that becomes dreamlike.

1227
00:55:04,636 --> 00:55:07,598
{\an8}People feel that
when they, from the world's

1228
00:55:07,723 --> 00:55:11,435
{\an8}point of view, are dying,
they actually are waking up

1229
00:55:11,935 --> 00:55:15,230
{\an8}to a reality that
this state of existence

1230
00:55:15,355 --> 00:55:17,900
that we're in now
seemed like a dream or

1231
00:55:18,025 --> 00:55:19,318
as though you're asleep.

1232
00:55:19,818 --> 00:55:22,321
[music]

1233
00:55:25,115 --> 00:55:25,991
Dr. Sabom: I think
the near-death

1234
00:55:26,116 --> 00:55:29,286
experience is where
science meets religion.

1235
00:55:29,411 --> 00:55:32,372
There is a big difference
between proof and evidence.

1236
00:55:32,581 --> 00:55:34,124
This is all evidence,

1237
00:55:34,249 --> 00:55:36,794
but enough evidence
at some point

1238
00:55:36,919 --> 00:55:42,508
makes it so close to proof
that most people would say

1239
00:55:43,884 --> 00:55:44,593
it's right,

1240
00:55:44,718 --> 00:55:46,136
it's real.

1241
00:55:46,720 --> 00:55:48,180
[music]

1242
00:55:48,680 --> 00:55:51,683
I got to watch what I say
because I don't want to

1243
00:55:51,934 --> 00:55:54,937
unnecessarily
alienate people.

1244
00:55:55,145 --> 00:55:57,981
I think skepticism is good

1245
00:55:58,107 --> 00:56:00,025
skepticism, true
skepticism.

1246
00:56:00,150 --> 00:56:02,236
But rigidity is not.

1247
00:56:02,361 --> 00:56:04,113
In other words,
if you have an

1248
00:56:04,238 --> 00:56:07,282
ideological opposition
to something

1249
00:56:07,825 --> 00:56:11,370
and you fight tooth
and nail to support it,

1250
00:56:11,578 --> 00:56:14,581
or at least advocate it

1251
00:56:15,374 --> 00:56:17,543
and refuse
to look at the other side,

1252
00:56:17,668 --> 00:56:19,086
that's not being objective.

1253
00:56:19,211 --> 00:56:20,796
{\an8}Dr. Long: There's a lot
about the afterlife

1254
00:56:20,921 --> 00:56:22,381
{\an8}that we don't know
for sure.

1255
00:56:22,506 --> 00:56:25,384
{\an8}We'll all know for real
only after we die.

1256
00:56:25,509 --> 00:56:27,553
{\an8}And not completely
before then.

1257
00:56:28,137 --> 00:56:30,806
Mr. Burke: There have been lots
of alternate theories

1258
00:56:30,931 --> 00:56:32,850
fighter pilots syndrome.

1259
00:56:33,142 --> 00:56:34,101
[crash]

1260
00:56:34,226 --> 00:56:34,893
You're pulling G's,

1261
00:56:35,018 --> 00:56:37,020
It feels like you're
going through a tunnel.

1262
00:56:37,146 --> 00:56:38,021
Some say

1263
00:56:38,147 --> 00:56:41,775
psychedelic drugs like
DMT or LSD or mescaline,

1264
00:56:42,776 --> 00:56:45,070
vibrant colors and, and,

1265
00:56:45,195 --> 00:56:48,157
maybe going to
another place,

1266
00:56:48,740 --> 00:56:51,660
Dr. Long: You name it, DMT,
Ketamine, LSD,

1267
00:56:51,785 --> 00:56:52,911
those are

1268
00:56:53,036 --> 00:56:55,622
generally illicit
substances that produce

1269
00:56:55,747 --> 00:56:56,790
hallucinatory effects.

1270
00:56:56,915 --> 00:56:58,375
And in fact, many people

1271
00:56:58,500 --> 00:57:00,377
that take these
illicit substances

1272
00:57:00,502 --> 00:57:03,380
and the difference between
the experience they have

1273
00:57:03,505 --> 00:57:06,175
and the typical near-death
experience

1274
00:57:06,300 --> 00:57:07,676
is very striking.

1275
00:57:08,385 --> 00:57:11,013
Mr. Burke: The problem is that

1276
00:57:11,138 --> 00:57:14,516
all of those might describe
one aspect.

1277
00:57:14,683 --> 00:57:15,976
[music]

1278
00:57:16,101 --> 00:57:19,062
You have people
and we're talking thousands

1279
00:57:19,188 --> 00:57:22,900
and thousands of people
all around the globe, old,

1280
00:57:23,025 --> 00:57:26,612
young, sighted
people, blind people.

1281
00:57:27,112 --> 00:57:29,489
And they're saying
the same thing,

1282
00:57:29,615 --> 00:57:32,367
though on the other side,
blind people can see

1283
00:57:32,492 --> 00:57:35,120
they have to adjust to it,
to describing things

1284
00:57:35,245 --> 00:57:38,081
that they see, but
they see the same things.

1285
00:57:38,207 --> 00:57:41,251
And there was one study
done with 23 blind people,

1286
00:57:41,376 --> 00:57:43,962
14 of them
blind from birth,

1287
00:57:44,087 --> 00:57:45,214
two of them that I report

1288
00:57:45,339 --> 00:57:48,300
about describe the light
coming out of everything.

1289
00:57:49,092 --> 00:57:51,386
Dr. Long: There's the near-death
experience of Marta.

1290
00:57:51,511 --> 00:57:54,848
She was a five-year-old
girl and totally blind.

1291
00:57:55,307 --> 00:57:58,060
Marta went into a lake
and drowned,

1292
00:57:58,185 --> 00:58:00,896
and her consciousness rose
above her body.

1293
00:58:01,021 --> 00:58:04,274
She described vividly
details of birds' feathers,

1294
00:58:04,399 --> 00:58:07,319
birds' eyes,
details on telephone poles.

1295
00:58:07,486 --> 00:58:10,697
It's remarkable to me
how someone totally blind

1296
00:58:11,114 --> 00:58:12,199
can be fascinated

1297
00:58:12,324 --> 00:58:14,660
by mundane
things that you and I

1298
00:58:14,785 --> 00:58:16,536
would not consider
to be so exciting.

1299
00:58:16,662 --> 00:58:18,789
Seeing this
for the first time

1300
00:58:18,914 --> 00:58:20,999
while she's unconscious

1301
00:58:21,124 --> 00:58:23,001
and below the
surface of the water

1302
00:58:23,126 --> 00:58:25,629
and yet having a
near-death experience.

1303
00:58:25,754 --> 00:58:29,299
Mr. Burke: So how do you get
a lucid experience

1304
00:58:29,925 --> 00:58:32,511
that happens both
for people who have had

1305
00:58:32,636 --> 00:58:33,929
[rumbling]

1306
00:58:34,054 --> 00:58:35,472
hallucinogenic

1307
00:58:35,597 --> 00:58:38,267
drugs potentially
in the hospital or,

1308
00:58:38,392 --> 00:58:40,060
you know, anesthesia,

1309
00:58:40,185 --> 00:58:41,186
But they're saying

1310
00:58:41,311 --> 00:58:44,231
the same things as those
who have had no anesthesia

1311
00:58:44,356 --> 00:58:46,984
and the same things
that little kids say,

1312
00:58:47,109 --> 00:58:48,777
the same things that people
from different

1313
00:58:48,902 --> 00:58:50,487
religious
backgrounds and cultures

1314
00:58:50,612 --> 00:58:53,740
say you don't have mass
hallucinations.

1315
00:58:54,032 --> 00:58:57,452
[music]

1316
00:59:01,164 --> 00:59:02,958
Don: The moment
the truck struck me,

1317
00:59:03,083 --> 00:59:06,044
I was standing
at the gates of Heaven.

1318
00:59:07,379 --> 00:59:10,048
[wind blowing]
[waves crashing]

1319
00:59:11,842 --> 00:59:14,636
And it was magnificent.

1320
00:59:14,761 --> 00:59:17,097
It was like the
inside of an oyster.

1321
00:59:17,222 --> 00:59:20,809
It was pearl and dazzling,

1322
00:59:21,059 --> 00:59:24,062
almost like it was living.

1323
00:59:25,564 --> 00:59:27,858
It just looked that way
because of the light

1324
00:59:27,983 --> 00:59:30,944
reflecting off the gate.

1325
00:59:32,070 --> 00:59:33,655
{\an8}Heaven is light.

1326
00:59:33,780 --> 00:59:34,698
{\an8}God is light.

1327
00:59:34,823 --> 00:59:36,867
{\an8}It's... it's astounding.

1328
00:59:37,075 --> 00:59:38,744
[music]

1329
00:59:39,119 --> 00:59:40,537
Don: One of the most
difficult things

1330
00:59:40,662 --> 00:59:42,247
about talking about heaven

1331
00:59:42,372 --> 00:59:44,791
is that you have to do it
with earthly words,

1332
00:59:44,916 --> 00:59:48,545
and there are no earthly
words that do it justice.

1333
00:59:49,129 --> 00:59:50,797
[wind blowing]

1334
00:59:55,719 --> 00:59:58,513
Mr. Black: I did think
for a moment, okay, I died.

1335
00:59:58,638 --> 01:00:00,223
Okay, I'm gone.

1336
01:00:00,349 --> 01:00:01,350
And was I sad?

1337
01:00:01,475 --> 01:00:03,310
No, not at all.

1338
01:00:03,518 --> 01:00:04,853
[music]

1339
01:00:06,355 --> 01:00:07,022
I wasn't worried

1340
01:00:07,147 --> 01:00:08,523
about my mom or dad

1341
01:00:08,648 --> 01:00:11,068
or what they would think
or my--, nothing.

1342
01:00:11,193 --> 01:00:14,029
{\an8}I was only looking forward
to where I was going

1343
01:00:14,154 --> 01:00:17,616
{\an8}and it was nothing but joy
and peace, love and unity.

1344
01:00:18,075 --> 01:00:20,452
[water sounds and music]

1345
01:00:25,457 --> 01:00:28,460
Don: I was surrounded by people
I knew and loved in life.

1346
01:00:28,585 --> 01:00:29,961
[backround video conversations]

1347
01:00:30,087 --> 01:00:32,923
The first person
I saw was my grandfather.

1348
01:00:33,048 --> 01:00:35,217
I was very close
to my grandfather.

1349
01:00:35,342 --> 01:00:38,053
The last time I saw him,
he was in a casket.

1350
01:00:38,178 --> 01:00:41,014
At his funeral, he did
not look good.

1351
01:00:41,139 --> 01:00:44,101
Now I'm standing
at the gates of Heaven,

1352
01:00:44,226 --> 01:00:46,144
and there he is
to greet me.

1353
01:00:46,269 --> 01:00:47,562
And he looked really good.

1354
01:00:47,687 --> 01:00:49,022
He extended his hands to me

1355
01:00:49,147 --> 01:00:51,149
and spoke a language
I've never heard before,

1356
01:00:51,274 --> 01:00:55,445
but fully understood and
said, Welcome home, Donnie.

1357
01:00:56,029 --> 01:00:58,198
[music]

1358
01:01:01,910 --> 01:01:05,831
Mr. Black: I recognized this
group of people.

1359
01:01:05,997 --> 01:01:11,586
These people are looking
at me with such love.

1360
01:01:11,837 --> 01:01:13,588
[music]

1361
01:01:14,589 --> 01:01:18,260
They're all seemingly
at the prime of their life.

1362
01:01:18,635 --> 01:01:19,636
And these people

1363
01:01:19,761 --> 01:01:23,348
were greeting me
and they were so delighted

1364
01:01:23,723 --> 01:01:26,726
that I was there,

1365
01:01:27,352 --> 01:01:30,647
{\an8}Dr. Neal: And I knew that they
were there for me,

1366
01:01:30,772 --> 01:01:34,151
{\an8}to welcome me,
to greet me, to to love me,

1367
01:01:34,276 --> 01:01:36,278
to make me feel known.

1368
01:01:36,945 --> 01:01:39,448
And I knew that
they had known loved me

1369
01:01:39,573 --> 01:01:42,492
as long as I've existed.

1370
01:01:43,201 --> 01:01:45,203
[music and wind]

1371
01:01:46,246 --> 01:01:48,665
Don: The music was phenomenal.

1372
01:01:48,790 --> 01:01:51,793
Thousands of songs at the
same time without chaos,

1373
01:01:52,461 --> 01:01:53,795
all manner of music,

1374
01:01:54,129 --> 01:01:55,464
instrumental,

1375
01:01:55,881 --> 01:01:57,632
choruses,

1376
01:01:59,843 --> 01:02:03,180
Astoundingly,
they just invade you.

1377
01:02:03,305 --> 01:02:06,266
I mean, you're permeated
by the music.

1378
01:02:06,391 --> 01:02:09,060
[waves of water and music]

1379
01:02:11,271 --> 01:02:14,983
My senses were
incredibly vivid,

1380
01:02:15,108 --> 01:02:18,862
you know, touch and taste
and feel and hearing.

1381
01:02:18,987 --> 01:02:20,113
It was just all.

1382
01:02:20,238 --> 01:02:21,490
It's just the most
real thing

1383
01:02:21,615 --> 01:02:22,991
that's ever happened to me.

1384
01:02:25,494 --> 01:02:28,914
After I greeted
the people, they parted

1385
01:02:29,039 --> 01:02:32,042
and I could see
through the gate.

1386
01:02:32,876 --> 01:02:34,836
There was
a long boulevard that

1387
01:02:34,961 --> 01:02:36,796
really bisects the city

1388
01:02:36,922 --> 01:02:39,925
and it appears
to be constructed of gold.

1389
01:02:40,467 --> 01:02:43,470
So many of the things
that we experience here

1390
01:02:43,762 --> 01:02:46,515
are there,
but much infinitely

1391
01:02:46,640 --> 01:02:49,559
more glorious and perfect.

1392
01:02:49,726 --> 01:02:52,145
I wanted to climb that hill

1393
01:02:52,270 --> 01:02:54,397
and fall at the
feet of the great

1394
01:02:54,523 --> 01:02:56,566
God of all
creation and say,

1395
01:02:56,691 --> 01:02:59,402
"Thank you for
letting me come."

1396
01:02:59,528 --> 01:03:00,820
That was my objective.

1397
01:03:01,112 --> 01:03:02,447
[loud closing sound]

1398
01:03:07,285 --> 01:03:09,913
Mr. Burke: Not every near-death
experience is a good one.

1399
01:03:10,038 --> 01:03:13,375
23% of those who come
forward talking about them

1400
01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:17,003
talk about how they had
hellish experiences.

1401
01:03:18,672 --> 01:03:21,007
[TV Static]

1402
01:03:26,846 --> 01:03:27,639
Paul: At that time,

1403
01:03:27,764 --> 01:03:30,684
I, I felt really empty.

1404
01:03:30,809 --> 01:03:33,061
{\an8}It just seemed like
the best thing to do

1405
01:03:33,186 --> 01:03:35,063
{\an8}was just to die
at that point.

1406
01:03:35,188 --> 01:03:37,357
{\an8}If I die,
then it's game over.

1407
01:03:37,482 --> 01:03:39,901
{\an8}And if I die, then the pain
and the suffering,

1408
01:03:40,026 --> 01:03:41,403
the depression,

1409
01:03:41,528 --> 01:03:43,947
the darkness,
all this is going to stop.

1410
01:03:44,072 --> 01:03:46,157
Well,
if I do enough cocaine,

1411
01:03:46,283 --> 01:03:47,909
then maybe my heart
will stop beating

1412
01:03:48,034 --> 01:03:50,287
because it feels like it's
racing out of my chest.

1413
01:03:50,453 --> 01:03:51,871
[heartbeats]
[heartbeats stop]

1414
01:03:54,624 --> 01:03:56,876
[whooshing]

1415
01:03:57,711 --> 01:03:58,920
And I didn't see
a bright light.

1416
01:03:59,045 --> 01:03:59,963
I saw a black tunnel.

1417
01:04:00,088 --> 01:04:01,673
It felt like somebody
grabbed me and dropped me

1418
01:04:01,798 --> 01:04:04,217
in this outer darkness.

1419
01:04:04,342 --> 01:04:06,928
As I started racing down
this tunnel,

1420
01:04:07,053 --> 01:04:08,430
it seemed like infinity.

1421
01:04:08,555 --> 01:04:11,349
It was like
a bottomless pit.

1422
01:04:11,474 --> 01:04:13,977
I don't know how,
but I was no longer high.

1423
01:04:14,102 --> 01:04:17,105
All my senses
were at 1,000.

1424
01:04:18,690 --> 01:04:20,442
I knew that I had died,

1425
01:04:20,567 --> 01:04:22,068
and it was one of
the scariest moments

1426
01:04:22,193 --> 01:04:24,154
in my entire life.

1427
01:04:25,363 --> 01:04:27,324
And I'm racing
down this tunnel

1428
01:04:27,449 --> 01:04:28,992
that seems like forever,

1429
01:04:29,117 --> 01:04:31,620
like a thousand miles an hour

1430
01:04:31,745 --> 01:04:33,663
as I'm just freefalling.

1431
01:04:33,913 --> 01:04:35,582
[low violin tones]

1432
01:04:36,124 --> 01:04:38,335
If I'm going to hell,
there's got to be a mistake

1433
01:04:38,460 --> 01:04:40,420
because I never
killed anybody.

1434
01:04:40,545 --> 01:04:41,504
I didn't rob a bank.

1435
01:04:41,630 --> 01:04:43,548
I mean, I'm a good person.

1436
01:04:43,673 --> 01:04:44,674
I'm not a bad guy.

1437
01:04:44,799 --> 01:04:47,010
The only person I hurt
was myself.

1438
01:04:47,135 --> 01:04:50,221
When I began to justify
how good I was,

1439
01:04:50,847 --> 01:04:52,474
it went faster

1440
01:04:52,599 --> 01:04:54,601
like 2,000 miles an hour.

1441
01:04:56,269 --> 01:04:58,146
It speeded up the process.

1442
01:04:58,271 --> 01:05:01,232
Like, now you're
really going to Hell.

1443
01:05:02,400 --> 01:05:04,694
I remember at that point
I cried out

1444
01:05:04,819 --> 01:05:07,781
with all desperation.

1445
01:05:09,574 --> 01:05:13,244
I said, "God, you need to
come help me right now.

1446
01:05:14,079 --> 01:05:17,082
because I need you.

1447
01:05:17,916 --> 01:05:20,919
If you really exist,
I need your help.

1448
01:05:21,461 --> 01:05:22,712
So you got to come help me.

1449
01:05:22,837 --> 01:05:25,757
Please, God,
I need your help."

1450
01:05:27,050 --> 01:05:29,052
[low tones]

1451
01:05:30,637 --> 01:05:31,388
Mr. Storm: In the bed

1452
01:05:31,513 --> 01:05:34,432
that I had been in
was this big slab of meat.

1453
01:05:34,641 --> 01:05:36,685
And when I looked
at the face,

1454
01:05:36,810 --> 01:05:39,854
it bore an amazing
resemblance to me.

1455
01:05:41,773 --> 01:05:44,526
And I could not understand

1456
01:05:44,651 --> 01:05:47,070
how that could resemble me.

1457
01:05:47,195 --> 01:05:49,280
But I was perfectly
well standing there,

1458
01:05:49,406 --> 01:05:52,325
perfectly alive,
looking at this,

1459
01:05:52,534 --> 01:05:53,451
hunk of meat.

1460
01:05:54,953 --> 01:05:56,788
The other thing
that bothered me was that

1461
01:05:56,913 --> 01:05:59,874
my wife would not
respond to me.

1462
01:06:01,710 --> 01:06:03,628
{\an8}Well, at first I started
talking in a nice voice,

1463
01:06:03,753 --> 01:06:05,296
{\an8}and then I started yelling
at her, like, you know,

1464
01:06:06,631 --> 01:06:08,967
{\an8}what the
hell is going on here?

1465
01:06:09,092 --> 01:06:11,136
Look at me. Talk to me.

1466
01:06:11,261 --> 01:06:12,178
You know,
I'm all better.

1467
01:06:12,303 --> 01:06:14,848
You know, what's that
thing in the bed?

1468
01:06:14,973 --> 01:06:16,516
How did it get there?

1469
01:06:18,143 --> 01:06:21,146
I was very upset,
very distressed.

1470
01:06:21,479 --> 01:06:24,315
And then I heard people out
in the hallway

1471
01:06:24,441 --> 01:06:27,318
outside the well-lit room

1472
01:06:28,111 --> 01:06:32,449
in the darkish-gray,
hazy hallway.

1473
01:06:33,158 --> 01:06:35,160
[music]

1474
01:06:40,415 --> 01:06:42,292
And there was
a group of people standing

1475
01:06:42,417 --> 01:06:46,004
outside the light
of the room in the hallway.

1476
01:06:46,671 --> 01:06:47,547
I said, "I'm sick.

1477
01:06:47,672 --> 01:06:49,215
I need a doctor."

1478
01:06:50,717 --> 01:06:53,303
And they said, "We know.

1479
01:06:53,428 --> 01:06:54,971
We know all about you.

1480
01:06:55,096 --> 01:06:56,389
It's time for you to
come with us."

1481
01:06:56,514 --> 01:06:59,058
So I thought that they were

1482
01:06:59,184 --> 01:07:02,145
hospital personnel
to take me to a doctor.

1483
01:07:02,437 --> 01:07:04,189
[low tones]

1484
01:07:05,398 --> 01:07:06,649
When I left the room

1485
01:07:06,775 --> 01:07:08,026
and went into the hall,

1486
01:07:09,444 --> 01:07:11,196
I can't explain how I knew,

1487
01:07:11,321 --> 01:07:13,198
I couldn't go back
into the room.

1488
01:07:13,323 --> 01:07:14,574
The door didn't close,

1489
01:07:14,699 --> 01:07:16,242
but I knew that
it was impossible

1490
01:07:16,367 --> 01:07:18,995
for me to go back
into the light of the room.

1491
01:07:19,120 --> 01:07:21,331
So I hesitated and
the people became very...

1492
01:07:21,456 --> 01:07:23,374
Hurry up,
Let's go. Let's go.

1493
01:07:23,500 --> 01:07:25,210
We can't wait anymore.
You know.

1494
01:07:25,335 --> 01:07:27,962
We've been here a long time
waiting for you.

1495
01:07:28,087 --> 01:07:28,838
Hurry up.

1496
01:07:28,963 --> 01:07:32,175
So I gave in
and went with them

1497
01:07:32,300 --> 01:07:34,469
and they immediately
surrounded me

1498
01:07:34,594 --> 01:07:37,180
and moved me forward
into that greyness.

1499
01:07:38,848 --> 01:07:41,184
[dramatic music]

1500
01:07:48,399 --> 01:07:52,570
As we moved along,
I could not perceive walls,

1501
01:07:52,904 --> 01:07:56,324
ceiling, any
feature at all.

1502
01:07:56,950 --> 01:07:58,743
And we walked
and walked and walked.

1503
01:07:58,868 --> 01:08:00,537
And after a while
I was like, okay,

1504
01:08:00,662 --> 01:08:02,705
this hospital's
not that big, you know?

1505
01:08:02,831 --> 01:08:05,750
I mean, we walked miles
now, and it's like,

1506
01:08:05,959 --> 01:08:07,627
where's the stairs?

1507
01:08:07,752 --> 01:08:08,962
You know,
where's the up and down?

1508
01:08:09,087 --> 01:08:11,130
Where's the walls?
And there was nothing.

1509
01:08:11,256 --> 01:08:12,757
We just walked and walked.

1510
01:08:15,593 --> 01:08:16,761
So I was asking the people

1511
01:08:16,886 --> 01:08:18,763
around me like,
this isn't the hospital,

1512
01:08:18,888 --> 01:08:21,266
This isn't right, you know,
where are we?

1513
01:08:21,391 --> 01:08:22,100
Stuff like that, and,

1514
01:08:22,225 --> 01:08:25,562
their response
was, "Shut up, be quiet.

1515
01:08:25,854 --> 01:08:26,521
Keep moving.

1516
01:08:26,646 --> 01:08:28,231
Move, move, move!"

1517
01:08:28,439 --> 01:08:29,816
[dramatic music]

1518
01:08:30,650 --> 01:08:33,194
They'd say,
"You're going to find out.

1519
01:08:33,319 --> 01:08:35,405
You'll find out.

1520
01:08:35,530 --> 01:08:38,491
You're going to get there."

1521
01:08:38,658 --> 01:08:39,617
[low background voices]

1522
01:08:39,742 --> 01:08:41,494
There was a lot of
people around us,

1523
01:08:41,619 --> 01:08:42,954
possibly hundreds,

1524
01:08:43,079 --> 01:08:44,622
I don't know.
They were

1525
01:08:44,747 --> 01:08:47,792
being very vulgar, very
threatening, very scary.

1526
01:08:48,918 --> 01:08:50,753
I'm in abject darkness.

1527
01:08:50,879 --> 01:08:53,256
I have absolutely no
idea which way

1528
01:08:53,381 --> 01:08:55,633
is forward, backward.
I mean,

1529
01:08:55,758 --> 01:08:57,802
all I knew was I wanted to
get away from them.

1530
01:08:57,927 --> 01:09:00,471
[music and crackling]

1531
01:09:00,597 --> 01:09:03,266
They said, "No,
you've got further to go."

1532
01:09:03,391 --> 01:09:06,311
And they started to push
and shove me.

1533
01:09:07,145 --> 01:09:09,981
And I fought back.

1534
01:09:10,106 --> 01:09:13,109
They began by punching,
shoving, kicking.

1535
01:09:14,193 --> 01:09:17,697
And then they started
biting, scratching

1536
01:09:17,822 --> 01:09:18,781
[sinister laughter]

1537
01:09:18,907 --> 01:09:21,784
and tearing me apart, literally.

1538
01:09:21,910 --> 01:09:24,120
disemboweling me,
gouging my eyes.

1539
01:09:24,245 --> 01:09:25,788
And it was all accompanied

1540
01:09:25,914 --> 01:09:27,582
with a great deal
of laughter and joy.

1541
01:09:28,207 --> 01:09:30,877
[dark noises]
[backround laughter]

1542
01:09:32,670 --> 01:09:35,048
I thought about

1543
01:09:35,173 --> 01:09:36,841
my whole life
and everything seemed like

1544
01:09:36,966 --> 01:09:38,843
what was the point.

1545
01:09:38,968 --> 01:09:40,803
And I realized
that my relationships

1546
01:09:40,929 --> 01:09:43,848
with my mother
and father were a disaster.

1547
01:09:44,182 --> 01:09:47,185
My relationship with
my sisters wasn't good.

1548
01:09:47,393 --> 01:09:50,647
My relationship with
my wife was very troubled.

1549
01:09:50,855 --> 01:09:52,732
[music]

1550
01:09:52,857 --> 01:09:55,276
I was not proud or pleased

1551
01:09:55,401 --> 01:09:57,612
with my relationship
with my two children.

1552
01:09:57,737 --> 01:09:59,781
[music]

1553
01:09:59,906 --> 01:10:01,824
I sank into

1554
01:10:01,950 --> 01:10:05,662
a pit of despair
and hopelessness

1555
01:10:05,787 --> 01:10:08,039
that I can't begin
to describe.

1556
01:10:08,164 --> 01:10:10,375
[crackling]

1557
01:10:12,418 --> 01:10:17,048
My mind offered up a memory
of myself as a little boy

1558
01:10:17,173 --> 01:10:20,134
going to a Sunday school
singing "Jesus Loves Me"

1559
01:10:21,010 --> 01:10:22,303
When I was a little boy

1560
01:10:22,428 --> 01:10:24,514
and I was afraid,
like having nightmares

1561
01:10:24,639 --> 01:10:27,684
at night or whatever,
I would pray to Him and

1562
01:10:28,226 --> 01:10:30,186
He would chase the
lions and tigers.

1563
01:10:30,311 --> 01:10:32,313
and bears away.

1564
01:10:32,438 --> 01:10:34,983
And as a child,
it was, like, mostly

1565
01:10:35,108 --> 01:10:37,026
in the image
of like a superhero.

1566
01:10:37,151 --> 01:10:39,195
Jesus was like a superhero.

1567
01:10:39,320 --> 01:10:40,196
And so...

1568
01:10:40,530 --> 01:10:41,239
that's it.

1569
01:10:41,572 --> 01:10:43,074
That was all I knew.

1570
01:10:43,199 --> 01:10:46,744
So I called out to him
in complete desperation,

1571
01:10:47,996 --> 01:10:51,082
A tiny little star
appeared in the sky,

1572
01:10:51,207 --> 01:10:52,417
[thunder rumbling]

1573
01:10:52,542 --> 01:10:54,627
and very rapidly
it got brighter

1574
01:10:54,752 --> 01:10:57,672
and brighter and brighter.

1575
01:10:58,297 --> 01:11:00,091
Mr. Black: I started moving

1576
01:11:00,216 --> 01:11:03,428
helplessly
without direction.

1577
01:11:03,553 --> 01:11:05,388
I had nothing to do
with this.

1578
01:11:05,513 --> 01:11:07,348
I started moving
out of the room.

1579
01:11:07,473 --> 01:11:09,684
I next realized that

1580
01:11:09,809 --> 01:11:12,937
I have left the hospital
and now I'm traveling

1581
01:11:13,646 --> 01:11:16,649
almost like a rocket ship,
just moving

1582
01:11:16,899 --> 01:11:18,317
out of this atmosphere.

1583
01:11:18,484 --> 01:11:19,819
[boom and rumbling]

1584
01:11:20,611 --> 01:11:23,614
As if in deep space.

1585
01:11:24,991 --> 01:11:28,369
Mr. Storm: I realized we were
not on the ground anymore.

1586
01:11:28,494 --> 01:11:31,456
We were moving upward,
straight upwards.

1587
01:11:31,581 --> 01:11:33,291
[thunder rumbling]

1588
01:11:33,416 --> 01:11:35,501
So I've got my face
buried in His chest

1589
01:11:35,626 --> 01:11:36,461
hanging on to Him.

1590
01:11:36,586 --> 01:11:39,088
I'm like, I don't want to
let me go because I,

1591
01:11:39,213 --> 01:11:40,590
I'm afraid if I let go,

1592
01:11:40,715 --> 01:11:42,550
or if he lets go, I'm
going to fall back

1593
01:11:42,675 --> 01:11:44,427
into that horrible
place again.

1594
01:11:44,552 --> 01:11:47,346
Mr. Black: And there was a beam
of light that was lighting

1595
01:11:47,472 --> 01:11:50,391
the pathway
of where I was going.

1596
01:11:50,516 --> 01:11:52,727
[music]

1597
01:11:52,852 --> 01:11:54,520
Paul: My whole life
flashed in front of me

1598
01:11:54,645 --> 01:11:56,147
as big as the sky,

1599
01:11:57,023 --> 01:11:58,816
Mr. Black: Tiny spheres
of light.

1600
01:11:59,484 --> 01:12:02,445
They weren't planets,
they weren't stars.

1601
01:12:02,570 --> 01:12:05,573
These were beings
going to Earth

1602
01:12:05,990 --> 01:12:08,034
Mr. Storm: Where we were going
is what I first thought

1603
01:12:08,159 --> 01:12:11,579
was a galaxy.
A huge world of light.

1604
01:12:11,954 --> 01:12:13,831
Mr. Black: The light that
I'm looking at,

1605
01:12:13,956 --> 01:12:17,001
is coming from none
other than God Himself.

1606
01:12:17,126 --> 01:12:19,670
[music]

1607
01:12:20,379 --> 01:12:23,382
Inside the light was life,

1608
01:12:24,967 --> 01:12:27,970
And inside
that light was love.

1609
01:12:28,096 --> 01:12:31,766
And my body is
still on Earth.

1610
01:12:33,351 --> 01:12:36,813
My brain and eyeballs
are back there.

1611
01:12:37,980 --> 01:12:39,816
But, I'm sensing
and discerning

1612
01:12:39,941 --> 01:12:42,860
all of these things.

1613
01:12:43,694 --> 01:12:45,029
Paul: When you leave this earth

1614
01:12:45,154 --> 01:12:47,323
and you step into
the eternity,

1615
01:12:47,448 --> 01:12:50,451
everything is
crystal clear.

1616
01:12:51,077 --> 01:12:52,411
[music]

1617
01:12:58,042 --> 01:13:00,128
Mr. Black: I knew I was coming
to this holy area

1618
01:13:00,253 --> 01:13:01,712
and obviously

1619
01:13:01,838 --> 01:13:04,757
it took another second
to connect the dots.

1620
01:13:04,882 --> 01:13:06,300
This is Heaven.

1621
01:13:06,509 --> 01:13:08,261
[music playing]

1622
01:13:11,722 --> 01:13:12,640
Mr. Storm: And he spoke to me

1623
01:13:12,765 --> 01:13:15,685
for the first time
in his voice,

1624
01:13:15,810 --> 01:13:17,937
but it was telepathic
but it wasn't

1625
01:13:18,062 --> 01:13:19,105
a thought of mine.

1626
01:13:19,230 --> 01:13:21,357
It was his voice
in my head.

1627
01:13:21,482 --> 01:13:23,025
And then he said,
I've got some people

1628
01:13:23,151 --> 01:13:24,402
that I want you to meet.

1629
01:13:24,527 --> 01:13:26,195
They've recorded your life

1630
01:13:26,320 --> 01:13:29,282
and they want
show you your life.

1631
01:13:29,824 --> 01:13:31,701
So they proceeded to

1632
01:13:31,826 --> 01:13:33,995
show me my life
in chronological order.

1633
01:13:34,370 --> 01:13:36,706
[movie reel clicks]

1634
01:13:38,791 --> 01:13:41,794
What I saw, to
summarize it, was

1635
01:13:42,920 --> 01:13:44,755
happy youth

1636
01:13:44,881 --> 01:13:45,798
pretty much

1637
01:13:45,923 --> 01:13:49,260
going to adolescence,
everything going sour,

1638
01:13:50,428 --> 01:13:51,679
particularly
with my relationship

1639
01:13:51,804 --> 01:13:52,513
with my father.

1640
01:13:52,638 --> 01:13:56,851
Because of my father's
cruelty to me,

1641
01:13:58,060 --> 01:13:59,729
I was cruel back.

1642
01:14:01,606 --> 01:14:04,525
My father was physically
and emotionally abusive

1643
01:14:04,650 --> 01:14:07,904
every day to my mother,
my sisters and to me.

1644
01:14:09,947 --> 01:14:11,157
I mean, it never stopped.

1645
01:14:13,451 --> 01:14:14,994
The only way
that I could deal with it

1646
01:14:15,119 --> 01:14:17,997
was to try
and not feel anything.

1647
01:14:18,372 --> 01:14:20,208
And all he wanted for me

1648
01:14:20,333 --> 01:14:23,461
was to be
a little duplicate of him,

1649
01:14:23,794 --> 01:14:26,672
you know,
just be subservient to him.

1650
01:14:26,797 --> 01:14:29,425
You know,
being being disobedient

1651
01:14:29,550 --> 01:14:31,886
had immediate
physical consequences

1652
01:14:32,011 --> 01:14:34,972
of being kicked
or punched or hit.

1653
01:14:36,224 --> 01:14:38,976
And I saw myself striving

1654
01:14:39,101 --> 01:14:42,396
to become emotionless
and feeling-less,

1655
01:14:43,272 --> 01:14:45,316
which was a way for
me to protect myself

1656
01:14:45,441 --> 01:14:46,400
from being hurt.

1657
01:14:46,525 --> 01:14:48,027
[music]

1658
01:14:48,402 --> 01:14:51,239
As I became
more manipulative

1659
01:14:51,364 --> 01:14:53,241
and successful,

1660
01:14:53,366 --> 01:14:56,494
the more the angels
and Jesus expressed

1661
01:14:56,619 --> 01:14:57,828
their disappointment

1662
01:14:57,954 --> 01:15:00,957
and sadness
with me and my life.

1663
01:15:02,625 --> 01:15:04,961
And it really hurt
to disappoint them

1664
01:15:05,086 --> 01:15:05,920
because I here

1665
01:15:06,045 --> 01:15:09,006
I have these newfound
friends, my big rescuer,

1666
01:15:10,007 --> 01:15:13,010
you know, best friend
I ever had.

1667
01:15:14,845 --> 01:15:16,597
And I'm-- and I'm
looking at my life

1668
01:15:16,722 --> 01:15:19,642
and I'm a big, huge
disappointment.

1669
01:15:19,892 --> 01:15:21,560
[music]

1670
01:15:22,645 --> 01:15:25,815
and you should put me back.

1671
01:15:26,941 --> 01:15:29,443
I don't belong here.

1672
01:15:30,027 --> 01:15:32,029
[crying and music]

1673
01:15:33,823 --> 01:15:34,949
You know,
you've made a mistake.

1674
01:15:35,074 --> 01:15:36,033
I don't belong here.

1675
01:15:36,158 --> 01:15:38,119
And he said,
"We don't make mistakes.

1676
01:15:38,244 --> 01:15:41,122
You do belong here."

1677
01:15:41,247 --> 01:15:42,498
[music]

1678
01:15:45,960 --> 01:15:46,961
Dr. Neal: At this point.

1679
01:15:47,086 --> 01:15:48,838
I had had

1680
01:15:48,963 --> 01:15:50,923
a number of operations and

1681
01:15:51,048 --> 01:15:55,428
I was finally able
to be upright instead of

1682
01:15:56,012 --> 01:15:56,971
wheelchair bound.

1683
01:15:58,514 --> 01:16:00,182
But I,

1684
01:16:00,308 --> 01:16:03,311
wasn't
able to walk very well.

1685
01:16:05,604 --> 01:16:08,607
When I was
sent back to my body,

1686
01:16:09,608 --> 01:16:12,778
I knew that
sharing my experiences

1687
01:16:12,903 --> 01:16:15,823
with other people
was part of the deal.

1688
01:16:16,699 --> 01:16:20,661
I knew that part of that
was writing about them.

1689
01:16:21,579 --> 01:16:23,956
And so I woke up

1690
01:16:24,081 --> 01:16:27,793
and I spent the
next week or so

1691
01:16:28,419 --> 01:16:31,839
getting up at three
or four in the morning and

1692
01:16:32,465 --> 01:16:35,468
writing for a few hours
before the morning routine.

1693
01:16:36,677 --> 01:16:40,598
And so I, you know,
made my final revisions.

1694
01:16:40,723 --> 01:16:43,934
And when I hit
the save button,

1695
01:16:44,185 --> 01:16:47,855
I took my youngest son, who
was still living at home

1696
01:16:48,522 --> 01:16:51,525
into town to get ice cream
so we could celebrate.

1697
01:16:52,193 --> 01:16:55,196
And so as we were
driving into town

1698
01:16:56,530 --> 01:17:00,201
to celebrate,
I called my older boys

1699
01:17:01,035 --> 01:17:04,038
because my oldest son
and his brother

1700
01:17:04,413 --> 01:17:06,999
were at the time
living in Maine.

1701
01:17:07,124 --> 01:17:08,250
They were ski training.

1702
01:17:08,376 --> 01:17:09,585
[music]

1703
01:17:10,378 --> 01:17:11,796
And I called them

1704
01:17:11,921 --> 01:17:14,882
to share this great news.

1705
01:17:16,008 --> 01:17:18,636
And the coach
answered the phone

1706
01:17:18,761 --> 01:17:22,556
and told me that Willie
had just been hit

1707
01:17:22,681 --> 01:17:24,642
by a car and killed.

1708
01:17:24,850 --> 01:17:26,519
[holding back tears]

1709
01:17:32,691 --> 01:17:33,901
and um,

1710
01:17:34,819 --> 01:17:36,153
[music]

1711
01:17:40,699 --> 01:17:42,034
I mean,

1712
01:17:43,411 --> 01:17:45,621
I reacted

1713
01:17:45,746 --> 01:17:48,707
like any mother would.

1714
01:17:52,920 --> 01:17:54,922
[emergency sirens]

1715
01:17:57,049 --> 01:18:00,761
The depth of my spiritual
knowledge,

1716
01:18:02,096 --> 01:18:05,266
does not protect me
from grief.

1717
01:18:06,517 --> 01:18:09,520
It doesn't protect me from

1718
01:18:09,645 --> 01:18:12,606
sorrow or any of
those things.

1719
01:18:14,316 --> 01:18:15,443
The depth of pain,

1720
01:18:15,568 --> 01:18:18,529
of losing a child is,

1721
01:18:19,238 --> 01:18:22,032
I don't think, a

1722
01:18:22,158 --> 01:18:24,243
pain that can be
replicated by

1723
01:18:24,368 --> 01:18:27,288
any other human
experience.

1724
01:18:28,831 --> 01:18:31,834
I mean, I was devastated

1725
01:18:32,293 --> 01:18:33,961
[music playing]

1726
01:18:36,464 --> 01:18:38,174
[rain falling]

1727
01:18:40,259 --> 01:18:42,094
[distant thunder]

1728
01:18:48,684 --> 01:18:51,687
Don: And it all stopped

1729
01:18:52,813 --> 01:18:55,816
just as quickly I arrived.

1730
01:18:59,278 --> 01:19:01,989
[emergency sirens]

1731
01:19:02,114 --> 01:19:04,867
That accident happened
at 11:45 in the morning.

1732
01:19:04,992 --> 01:19:07,995
I arrived at Hermann
Memorial Hospital

1733
01:19:08,245 --> 01:19:11,248
at like 6:15 that night.

1734
01:19:11,665 --> 01:19:14,543
{\an8}So they went and got my
wife out of her classroom,

1735
01:19:14,668 --> 01:19:15,503
{\an8}brought it down
to the office

1736
01:19:15,628 --> 01:19:17,129
{\an8}and told her the news.

1737
01:19:17,796 --> 01:19:20,257
Eva: And I walked down the
hall and into the office,

1738
01:19:20,382 --> 01:19:21,926
{\an8}and our assistant principal

1739
01:19:22,051 --> 01:19:23,469
{\an8}came out
from around her desk

1740
01:19:23,594 --> 01:19:25,179
{\an8}and just wrapped me
in this hug.

1741
01:19:25,304 --> 01:19:28,182
And she says, "Don's
been in an accident."

1742
01:19:28,307 --> 01:19:30,309
And that's all that
we knew.

1743
01:19:30,434 --> 01:19:33,437
Don: I was taken into surgery
that evening

1744
01:19:33,687 --> 01:19:36,690
and was in surgery
for 12 hours.

1745
01:19:38,484 --> 01:19:39,985
The next day

1746
01:19:40,110 --> 01:19:43,030
was when I realized
I was in the recovery room.

1747
01:19:43,739 --> 01:19:46,742
Eva: The emergency room
had called

1748
01:19:46,867 --> 01:19:49,119
and the nurse said,
he can't hold the phone,

1749
01:19:49,245 --> 01:19:51,038
but I'm going to put it
next to his ear

1750
01:19:51,163 --> 01:19:52,790
so he can hear you.

1751
01:19:54,041 --> 01:19:55,084
And I started with
the questions,

1752
01:19:55,209 --> 01:19:57,044
"Are you okay?
What happened?

1753
01:19:57,169 --> 01:19:58,212
Do I need to
come out there?"

1754
01:19:58,337 --> 01:20:01,215
just, you know, rambling
sort of things.

1755
01:20:01,340 --> 01:20:02,925
And all I could hear
him say was,

1756
01:20:03,050 --> 01:20:04,802
"I just want to go home.

1757
01:20:04,927 --> 01:20:06,053
I just want to go home."

1758
01:20:06,262 --> 01:20:08,264
[hospital machine sounds]
[wheezing breaths]

1759
01:20:08,472 --> 01:20:09,682
Later, I understood

1760
01:20:09,807 --> 01:20:12,726
that he meant his
Heavenly home.

1761
01:20:13,727 --> 01:20:14,520
Don: Had I had a choice,

1762
01:20:14,645 --> 01:20:16,230
I would not have
come back here.

1763
01:20:16,355 --> 01:20:19,400
I mean, I've had 30
wonderful years here,

1764
01:20:20,025 --> 01:20:21,819
but I would still rather
be there.

1765
01:20:21,944 --> 01:20:23,070
I know what happens next,

1766
01:20:23,195 --> 01:20:25,447
and it's it's always
better there

1767
01:20:25,573 --> 01:20:26,824
than it will ever be here.

1768
01:20:26,949 --> 01:20:29,910
So I didn't really want to
come back, but

1769
01:20:30,327 --> 01:20:32,329
I didn't get a choice.

1770
01:20:34,290 --> 01:20:36,542
Eva: He went into a deep
depression.

1771
01:20:36,667 --> 01:20:40,588
And I would go in, and
he would just lay there.

1772
01:20:40,879 --> 01:20:44,133
He wouldn't talk to me.
He wouldn't acknowledge me.

1773
01:20:44,925 --> 01:20:46,176
I would bring papers
to grade.

1774
01:20:46,302 --> 01:20:47,970
I would sit over in the
corner and grade

1775
01:20:48,095 --> 01:20:50,180
and stay there
till about 11:00

1776
01:20:50,306 --> 01:20:52,099
almost every night.

1777
01:20:52,850 --> 01:20:54,184
And then I'd tell him
goodnight,

1778
01:20:54,310 --> 01:20:55,561
and I'd leave.

1779
01:20:55,811 --> 01:20:57,730
[music]
[deep crying breaths]

1780
01:20:59,440 --> 01:21:02,443
And it was hurtful, because
I thought, you're alive.

1781
01:21:02,860 --> 01:21:04,445
You know, you're alive.
You're back with us.

1782
01:21:04,570 --> 01:21:05,529
Don't you love us enough to

1783
01:21:05,654 --> 01:21:06,947
be glad to be back with us?

1784
01:21:09,158 --> 01:21:12,244
And to me, that
was harder to deal with.

1785
01:21:12,369 --> 01:21:14,246
The depression was harder
to deal with

1786
01:21:14,371 --> 01:21:17,374
than the physical injuries,
which were massive.

1787
01:21:17,916 --> 01:21:20,085
And I remember one night,

1788
01:21:20,210 --> 01:21:21,670
I thought, you know what?

1789
01:21:21,795 --> 01:21:23,255
I'm going to go home
early tonight,

1790
01:21:23,380 --> 01:21:25,257
and I'm going to take
a warm shower,

1791
01:21:25,382 --> 01:21:26,800
and I'm going to
crawl in the bed,

1792
01:21:26,925 --> 01:21:28,552
and get a good
night's sleep.

1793
01:21:28,677 --> 01:21:31,639
So I gathered up
all my stuff,

1794
01:21:31,764 --> 01:21:33,140
and I just said,

1795
01:21:33,265 --> 01:21:35,351
well, I guess I'll
see you tomorrow.

1796
01:21:40,648 --> 01:21:43,442
No response.

1797
01:21:43,567 --> 01:21:44,735
That night, something

1798
01:21:44,860 --> 01:21:47,738
clicked inside of me,
and I had had it.

1799
01:21:47,946 --> 01:21:50,908
And I dropped
that book bag,

1800
01:21:51,033 --> 01:21:53,619
and I stomped my way over
to the side of the bed,

1801
01:21:53,744 --> 01:21:54,995
and I let him have it.

1802
01:21:55,120 --> 01:21:56,830
What is wrong with you?

1803
01:21:56,955 --> 01:21:58,457
Why aren't
you glad to see us?

1804
01:21:58,582 --> 01:22:00,376
Why aren't you glad
that you're back with us?

1805
01:22:00,501 --> 01:22:02,294
It was just--
it just tumbled out.

1806
01:22:02,628 --> 01:22:04,630
[music]

1807
01:22:04,755 --> 01:22:05,964
And so I grabbed
my stuff up,

1808
01:22:06,090 --> 01:22:08,175
and I'm walking
out the door.

1809
01:22:08,300 --> 01:22:11,220
And there was a big mirror
next to his bed.

1810
01:22:12,888 --> 01:22:15,891
And I looked over there,
and he was crying.

1811
01:22:17,601 --> 01:22:19,186
Just tears.

1812
01:22:20,062 --> 01:22:23,732
So I walked myself back
over, and I kind of had to-

1813
01:22:23,941 --> 01:22:26,944
he had so many metal
things that we had kind of

1814
01:22:27,236 --> 01:22:30,239
got my way in and I just
wrapped him in my arms.

1815
01:22:30,781 --> 01:22:33,575
And I said, It's
going to be okay.

1816
01:22:33,701 --> 01:22:37,913
And I realized then that

1817
01:22:39,206 --> 01:22:42,167
I had to accept that
sometimes

1818
01:22:42,459 --> 01:22:45,421
he was going through things
I didn't understand.

1819
01:22:47,172 --> 01:22:50,175
[music]

1820
01:22:54,513 --> 01:22:56,640
Mr. Storm: Finally,

1821
01:22:56,765 --> 01:22:59,476
I got through it.

1822
01:22:59,601 --> 01:23:01,437
Jesus said,
"Do you have any questions?"

1823
01:23:01,562 --> 01:23:03,063
I said, "I've got a million
questions."

1824
01:23:03,188 --> 01:23:05,190
He said,
"What do you want to know?"

1825
01:23:05,315 --> 01:23:06,275
So I asked him
everything that

1826
01:23:06,400 --> 01:23:08,235
I could think of to know,

1827
01:23:08,360 --> 01:23:09,903
And if we went
through that,

1828
01:23:10,028 --> 01:23:11,321
it would
take us several years.

1829
01:23:12,781 --> 01:23:14,366
And He gave me a whole

1830
01:23:14,491 --> 01:23:16,994
new understanding
of everything.

1831
01:23:17,119 --> 01:23:18,495
I said, "Great,

1832
01:23:18,620 --> 01:23:20,330
Now that I understand,
I want to go to heaven."

1833
01:23:20,456 --> 01:23:21,874
He said, "um um,

1834
01:23:22,958 --> 01:23:24,752
You're not ready
for Heaven yet."

1835
01:23:24,960 --> 01:23:26,336
[music]

1836
01:23:26,462 --> 01:23:28,464
Finally, I said, "What do
you want me to do?"

1837
01:23:28,589 --> 01:23:29,715
"I want you to love
the person

1838
01:23:29,840 --> 01:23:30,591
that you're with."

1839
01:23:30,758 --> 01:23:32,301
I said, "Okay, yeah,
but then what

1840
01:23:32,426 --> 01:23:33,552
do you want me to do
after I do that?"

1841
01:23:33,677 --> 01:23:35,429
And He said, "No, that's
what I want you to do."

1842
01:23:35,554 --> 01:23:38,557
I said, you know, "What
good is that going to do?"

1843
01:23:38,682 --> 01:23:40,851
He said, "It's going to
change the world."

1844
01:23:41,685 --> 01:23:44,688
And I said, "That's
going to change the world?

1845
01:23:45,272 --> 01:23:47,357
I don't think so, no."

1846
01:23:47,483 --> 01:23:48,442
I said,
"You don't understand.

1847
01:23:48,567 --> 01:23:51,028
The world is like
a terrible, cruel place.

1848
01:23:51,153 --> 01:23:52,696
Even if I love someone,
they're just going to go

1849
01:23:52,821 --> 01:23:55,574
get beat up somewhere else
and not going to--"

1850
01:23:55,699 --> 01:23:57,242
He said, "No, if you
love someone,

1851
01:23:57,367 --> 01:23:59,203
they'll take that love
out into the world

1852
01:23:59,328 --> 01:24:01,872
and maybe they'll love
somebody and it'll

1853
01:24:01,997 --> 01:24:02,956
grow and grow and grow."

1854
01:24:03,081 --> 01:24:04,583
I said, "It's not going to
work."

1855
01:24:04,708 --> 01:24:05,626
And He said,
"It's God's plan.

1856
01:24:05,751 --> 01:24:07,211
It's going to work."

1857
01:24:07,336 --> 01:24:09,755
Well, when he pulls out
the God's plan work,

1858
01:24:09,880 --> 01:24:10,547
you know,

1859
01:24:10,672 --> 01:24:12,007
I mean, like,
what can you say?

1860
01:24:12,174 --> 01:24:14,510
[dramatic music]

1861
01:24:15,719 --> 01:24:18,722
And so finally I conceded.

1862
01:24:18,847 --> 01:24:20,224
and I said, "Okay,
I'll go back."

1863
01:24:20,349 --> 01:24:21,600
And with that, bang,

1864
01:24:21,725 --> 01:24:23,644
I'm in the body,
I'm in the bed.

1865
01:24:23,769 --> 01:24:27,105
[dramatic music]

1866
01:24:29,316 --> 01:24:30,484
The nurse who'd
been in the room

1867
01:24:30,609 --> 01:24:31,944
comes in and says,

1868
01:24:32,069 --> 01:24:33,737
a doctor has arrived
at the hospital and

1869
01:24:33,862 --> 01:24:36,573
we're going to prepare you
for surgery.

1870
01:24:36,698 --> 01:24:38,242
When I awoke,

1871
01:24:38,367 --> 01:24:40,494
I knew that
what had happened to me

1872
01:24:40,619 --> 01:24:43,622
was the most
important thing in my life.

1873
01:24:43,747 --> 01:24:44,998
[music]

1874
01:24:45,123 --> 01:24:48,794
Because now my life had
real meaning and purpose.

1875
01:24:50,212 --> 01:24:51,380
I was very, very weak.

1876
01:24:51,505 --> 01:24:54,424
I had been in
surgery for hours.

1877
01:24:55,968 --> 01:24:57,594
I'd spent
most of the morning

1878
01:24:57,719 --> 01:24:58,929
trying to think of how
I was going

1879
01:24:59,054 --> 01:25:02,015
to tell my wife
what had happened.

1880
01:25:02,808 --> 01:25:05,769
I said to her,
"It's all love."

1881
01:25:07,187 --> 01:25:09,064
She said, "I love you."

1882
01:25:09,189 --> 01:25:11,692
And I said, "I know you
love me, but it's all love."

1883
01:25:11,817 --> 01:25:14,236
[music]

1884
01:25:14,361 --> 01:25:17,364
She said, "What are you
talking about?"

1885
01:25:17,531 --> 01:25:20,534
And I said, "It's
an ocean of love.

1886
01:25:21,827 --> 01:25:24,788
And you have to just go in

1887
01:25:25,080 --> 01:25:28,083
into that ocean of love
and be a part of it."

1888
01:25:30,210 --> 01:25:33,213
And she said, "Okay, honey,

1889
01:25:35,090 --> 01:25:37,426
Try to get some rest."

1890
01:25:37,968 --> 01:25:39,636
[music]

1891
01:25:41,889 --> 01:25:43,015
Here I am. I'm I' giv--

1892
01:25:43,140 --> 01:25:46,059
I'm giving her
the abbreviated

1893
01:25:46,602 --> 01:25:49,605
wisdom of God.

1894
01:25:50,814 --> 01:25:52,774
And she's basically
telling me,

1895
01:25:52,900 --> 01:25:54,318
you know,
you're making no sense.

1896
01:25:54,443 --> 01:25:55,903
It's crazy talk.

1897
01:25:56,194 --> 01:25:57,529
[music]

1898
01:25:58,697 --> 01:25:59,907
From that day forward,

1899
01:26:00,032 --> 01:26:03,577
I tried to tell people
about God, Heaven, Hell,

1900
01:26:04,953 --> 01:26:07,956
what I'd experienced,
and nobody,

1901
01:26:08,415 --> 01:26:11,418
nobody took me
seriously at all.

1902
01:26:11,752 --> 01:26:13,378
I was a zealot.

1903
01:26:13,503 --> 01:26:14,796
I was a complete zealot.

1904
01:26:14,922 --> 01:26:17,841
And it was

1905
01:26:18,425 --> 01:26:19,968
not good
for my relationship

1906
01:26:20,093 --> 01:26:23,013
with my kids
because the more that they

1907
01:26:23,972 --> 01:26:26,975
did not respect what
I was trying to tell them

1908
01:26:27,392 --> 01:26:30,187
and the more they told me
I was nuts and crazy

1909
01:26:30,312 --> 01:26:31,355
and stuff like that,
the more...

1910
01:26:32,689 --> 01:26:34,483
it totally alienated them

1911
01:26:34,608 --> 01:26:37,152
from the Bible,
from God, from me.

1912
01:26:37,277 --> 01:26:40,280
I mean, it was completely
counterproductive.

1913
01:26:41,281 --> 01:26:42,908
It was a disaster.

1914
01:26:43,533 --> 01:26:45,243
[music]

1915
01:26:50,415 --> 01:26:51,875
My wife left me.

1916
01:26:53,126 --> 01:26:56,505
She poisoned the
kids against me.

1917
01:26:59,007 --> 01:27:00,092
They've rejected me.

1918
01:27:00,217 --> 01:27:01,218
They don't want anything
to do with me.

1919
01:27:01,343 --> 01:27:04,304
They think I'm a crazy man.

1920
01:27:05,389 --> 01:27:08,392
It's all going to work out.

1921
01:27:08,934 --> 01:27:11,269
[music]

1922
01:27:12,729 --> 01:27:14,064
I know that God works
stuff out.

1923
01:27:14,189 --> 01:27:17,150
It just doesn't happen
on our time frame.

1924
01:27:17,609 --> 01:27:19,069
I mean, I'd like it now.

1925
01:27:19,194 --> 01:27:20,946
It's not happening
right now,

1926
01:27:21,071 --> 01:27:22,030
but it could happen
tomorrow.

1927
01:27:22,155 --> 01:27:24,950
It might take a long time.

1928
01:27:25,075 --> 01:27:26,493
I don't know,

1929
01:27:27,452 --> 01:27:28,787
[music]

1930
01:27:31,456 --> 01:27:32,541
Eva: A couple of years
down the road

1931
01:27:32,666 --> 01:27:33,291
when I found out

1932
01:27:33,417 --> 01:27:34,918
about the Heaven
experience,

1933
01:27:35,043 --> 01:27:35,919
people have asked me,

1934
01:27:36,044 --> 01:27:38,588
"Aren't you mad that
he didn't tell you?"

1935
01:27:38,714 --> 01:27:40,340
Not really.

1936
01:27:40,465 --> 01:27:44,094
I was relieved
because now I understand.

1937
01:27:45,554 --> 01:27:46,722
You know,
if you've been to Heaven,

1938
01:27:46,847 --> 01:27:49,182
why would you want to be
back in the pain

1939
01:27:49,307 --> 01:27:50,684
that he was in?

1940
01:27:51,435 --> 01:27:52,769
[musical tones]

1941
01:27:54,062 --> 01:27:56,481
Don: I found myself
on a daily basis

1942
01:27:56,606 --> 01:27:59,359
with all these devices
attached to me

1943
01:27:59,484 --> 01:28:02,195
and unable to move at all.

1944
01:28:02,320 --> 01:28:04,031
I couldn't do a
single solitary thing

1945
01:28:04,156 --> 01:28:05,073
for myself at all.

1946
01:28:05,198 --> 01:28:07,659
38 and then 39 year old man

1947
01:28:07,784 --> 01:28:10,746
who was completely
helpless.

1948
01:28:12,998 --> 01:28:14,332
[low piano chord]

1949
01:28:16,543 --> 01:28:17,419
Why?

1950
01:28:18,170 --> 01:28:19,629
You let me see that,

1951
01:28:19,880 --> 01:28:21,506
And you brought
me back to this.

1952
01:28:22,174 --> 01:28:24,009
What is going on here?

1953
01:28:24,217 --> 01:28:27,220
What was the purpose
of this?

1954
01:28:30,223 --> 01:28:32,225
[piano music]

1955
01:28:35,896 --> 01:28:37,481
Dr. Moody: In my studies
of psychiatry,

1956
01:28:37,606 --> 01:28:39,775
I quickly realized
that practically

1957
01:28:39,900 --> 01:28:42,819
everybody
is chasing something.

1958
01:28:43,612 --> 01:28:46,823
Some chase fame
or money or power.

1959
01:28:47,741 --> 01:28:50,702
But what I quickly realized
in talking with people

1960
01:28:50,827 --> 01:28:52,412
who had near-death
experiences

1961
01:28:52,537 --> 01:28:54,664
is that whatever
they were chasing

1962
01:28:54,790 --> 01:28:57,751
before this experience,
convinced them that

1963
01:28:58,043 --> 01:29:00,796
what life is all
about is learning to love.

1964
01:29:01,046 --> 01:29:03,715
[music]

1965
01:29:04,549 --> 01:29:07,511
Mr. Burke: And they all come
back all around the globe

1966
01:29:07,719 --> 01:29:11,181
with the same "aha".
That God is love.

1967
01:29:11,598 --> 01:29:13,517
And that how we treat and
love one another

1968
01:29:13,642 --> 01:29:16,019
is what matters
most to God.

1969
01:29:16,144 --> 01:29:16,853
You have people

1970
01:29:16,978 --> 01:29:19,439
who have these experiences
and come back

1971
01:29:19,564 --> 01:29:22,526
and their life
is radically changed.

1972
01:29:22,818 --> 01:29:24,736
[music]

1973
01:29:24,861 --> 01:29:25,695
Mr. Storm: When I came back

1974
01:29:25,821 --> 01:29:26,988
one of the things I knew
I wanted

1975
01:29:27,114 --> 01:29:30,033
to make friends
with my dad.

1976
01:29:31,034 --> 01:29:33,703
Not only was
I able to forgive my father

1977
01:29:33,829 --> 01:29:36,665
because I understood
that he was just messed up

1978
01:29:36,790 --> 01:29:39,209
because of his messed up
childhood.

1979
01:29:39,334 --> 01:29:40,669
All my father
really wanted to do

1980
01:29:40,794 --> 01:29:42,212
was to be loved but he

1981
01:29:42,337 --> 01:29:44,339
didn't know how to do that
in an appropriate way.

1982
01:29:44,464 --> 01:29:46,842
So he tried to be loved
in inappropriate ways.

1983
01:29:46,967 --> 01:29:49,886
He thought obedience
and discipline.

1984
01:29:50,679 --> 01:29:52,097
And my mother
and my sisters

1985
01:29:52,222 --> 01:29:53,265
were really angry with me

1986
01:29:53,390 --> 01:29:56,309
because they all told me
several times

1987
01:29:57,060 --> 01:29:58,979
"You and Dad
hated each other

1988
01:29:59,104 --> 01:30:02,023
and now you're
his best friend. Why?"

1989
01:30:03,775 --> 01:30:05,777
And I'd say, "Because
he's my dad."

1990
01:30:07,404 --> 01:30:09,197
Grace is passed along
and passed along

1991
01:30:09,322 --> 01:30:11,867
and passed along.
And it's powerful.

1992
01:30:11,992 --> 01:30:13,994
It's powerful because
people change lives

1993
01:30:14,119 --> 01:30:15,245
for the good.

1994
01:30:15,370 --> 01:30:19,332
They find hope, peace,
love, joy, contentment.

1995
01:30:19,457 --> 01:30:21,918
You know.

1996
01:30:22,043 --> 01:30:23,753
And they also find

1997
01:30:23,879 --> 01:30:25,755
God and eternal life.

1998
01:30:26,047 --> 01:30:28,967
[music]

1999
01:30:33,180 --> 01:30:35,599
Dr. Neal: When I was being shown

2000
01:30:35,724 --> 01:30:37,601
the ripple effect
of my own actions

2001
01:30:37,726 --> 01:30:41,188
and my own words,
I was able to see this

2002
01:30:41,688 --> 01:30:45,859
20, 25, 35 times
removed from me.

2003
01:30:47,110 --> 01:30:48,486
That's

2004
01:30:48,612 --> 01:30:51,615
a big distance.

2005
01:30:51,865 --> 01:30:54,868
I understood all the hurts
and sorrows and dreams.

2006
01:30:55,202 --> 01:30:58,830
Everything that had brought
me to that point in time

2007
01:30:59,247 --> 01:31:02,250
when I may have hurt
someone else.

2008
01:31:02,375 --> 01:31:05,295
I also had this complete
understanding

2009
01:31:05,420 --> 01:31:06,755
of the back story

2010
01:31:06,880 --> 01:31:08,340
or the, you know,
the life story

2011
01:31:08,465 --> 01:31:10,508
of the other
people involved

2012
01:31:11,051 --> 01:31:13,470
and everything
that had brought them

2013
01:31:13,595 --> 01:31:16,431
to that moment in time
where they hurt me

2014
01:31:16,556 --> 01:31:17,807
or they
hurt someone I loved

2015
01:31:19,643 --> 01:31:21,353
What we
each say and what we

2016
01:31:21,478 --> 01:31:24,522
each do and the choices
we make matter.

2017
01:31:25,690 --> 01:31:26,900
They really do.

2018
01:31:27,484 --> 01:31:29,152
[music]
[video conversations]

2019
01:31:33,823 --> 01:31:36,826
Dr. Neal: When I talk
about my son's death,

2020
01:31:37,077 --> 01:31:38,870
I know that he went home,

2021
01:31:38,995 --> 01:31:41,790
and I'm sure that he didn't
want to come back either.

2022
01:31:41,915 --> 01:31:44,834
I'm sure he was reassured
that we would be fine.

2023
01:31:46,670 --> 01:31:48,546
When my time
on earth is done,

2024
01:31:48,672 --> 01:31:51,258
my oldest son
will be there to greet me,

2025
01:31:51,383 --> 01:31:54,386
my father, my stepfather.

2026
01:31:54,928 --> 01:31:55,762
I now know

2027
01:31:55,887 --> 01:31:58,431
other people who have died,
people who I love, people

2028
01:31:58,556 --> 01:31:59,891
who are important
in my life.

2029
01:32:00,016 --> 01:32:01,309
I don't see

2030
01:32:01,434 --> 01:32:04,479
us here on Earth, and God's
world is over here.

2031
01:32:04,938 --> 01:32:08,233
I think we exist
in the midst of it.

2032
01:32:08,608 --> 01:32:10,694
[music]

2033
01:32:11,403 --> 01:32:13,363
I had the most

2034
01:32:13,488 --> 01:32:16,408
overwhelming sense
of being home,

2035
01:32:17,075 --> 01:32:18,785
of being where
I really belong,

2036
01:32:18,910 --> 01:32:21,454
where we
really belong, all of us.

2037
01:32:23,206 --> 01:32:25,875
Kang: It took about a few
months to recover fully.

2038
01:32:26,042 --> 01:32:28,211
I was still feeling
the pain,

2039
01:32:28,336 --> 01:32:31,339
feeling a little down,
depressed. Seeing Hell

2040
01:32:31,464 --> 01:32:35,593
and Heaven, changed me to
kind of prioritize others.

2041
01:32:36,386 --> 01:32:39,431
So at the age of 35,
I joined the Army Reserves.

2042
01:32:40,265 --> 01:32:42,309
I became a chaplain.

2043
01:32:42,434 --> 01:32:43,727
People just
came back from war

2044
01:32:43,852 --> 01:32:44,936
and you could tell
that they had

2045
01:32:45,061 --> 01:32:47,355
a very heartbroken
experience

2046
01:32:47,480 --> 01:32:50,191
or a psychological damage,
or the atrocities of war.

2047
01:32:50,317 --> 01:32:52,485
So we did a lot
of counseling.

2048
01:32:52,610 --> 01:32:54,154
We would pick up
phone calls at two,

2049
01:32:54,279 --> 01:32:55,280
three in the morning,

2050
01:32:55,405 --> 01:32:57,657
go with them to training,
hang out with them.

2051
01:32:57,782 --> 01:33:00,535
I would tell them that
there's hope.

2052
01:33:00,660 --> 01:33:03,621
I would tell them that
depression is not forever.

2053
01:33:05,373 --> 01:33:07,375
I believe
all over the world,

2054
01:33:07,500 --> 01:33:08,793
there are so many unique

2055
01:33:08,918 --> 01:33:10,879
NDEs, near-death
experiences,

2056
01:33:11,004 --> 01:33:12,005
and so many cultures

2057
01:33:12,130 --> 01:33:14,132
and backgrounds, American
or not,

2058
01:33:14,257 --> 01:33:16,885
all types of religions,
because

2059
01:33:17,010 --> 01:33:18,553
death is as real as life.

2060
01:33:19,637 --> 01:33:21,306
And I believe God
in his mercy,

2061
01:33:21,431 --> 01:33:22,807
no matter what
religious background

2062
01:33:22,932 --> 01:33:24,934
you are, allows you
to go through that

2063
01:33:25,060 --> 01:33:28,063
so that you can seek Him
in the process.

2064
01:33:28,813 --> 01:33:31,316
Don: I don't know why
some people survive

2065
01:33:31,441 --> 01:33:33,234
and some people don't.

2066
01:33:33,360 --> 01:33:34,611
I wish.

2067
01:33:34,736 --> 01:33:36,529
I wouldn't have survived.

2068
01:33:36,654 --> 01:33:37,655
I've had some
very real things

2069
01:33:37,781 --> 01:33:38,615
happen to me on Earth.

2070
01:33:38,740 --> 01:33:40,909
The birth
of five grandchildren,

2071
01:33:41,034 --> 01:33:42,702
seeing my children
all graduate.

2072
01:33:42,827 --> 01:33:45,747
I mean, it's
been glorious in many ways,

2073
01:33:46,081 --> 01:33:47,582
but nothing compares
to Heaven.

2074
01:33:47,707 --> 01:33:49,376
It's just, that's
the most real thing.

2075
01:33:49,501 --> 01:33:51,419
That is my reality.

2076
01:33:51,544 --> 01:33:53,254
This is not.

2077
01:33:53,380 --> 01:33:54,047
Mr. Burke: What do we have

2078
01:33:54,172 --> 01:33:57,092
more in common
as humanity than death?

2079
01:33:57,342 --> 01:34:01,012
And to know that there is
hope beyond this life,

2080
01:34:01,805 --> 01:34:04,099
that there truly is beauty,

2081
01:34:04,224 --> 01:34:07,018
and relationship and love

2082
01:34:07,143 --> 01:34:09,813
and adventure ahead.

2083
01:34:09,938 --> 01:34:11,314
You know, that

2084
01:34:11,439 --> 01:34:14,192
all of our our history
and our memories,

2085
01:34:14,317 --> 01:34:17,028
they don't end and we don't
become something else.

2086
01:34:17,153 --> 01:34:18,071
It goes on.

2087
01:34:18,488 --> 01:34:19,906
[music]

2088
01:34:21,658 --> 01:34:23,284
Dr. Sabom: People ought to
keep an open mind

2089
01:34:23,410 --> 01:34:25,120
to what's going on,

2090
01:34:25,245 --> 01:34:27,997
not accept everything
they hear

2091
01:34:28,832 --> 01:34:31,876
from people, from me,
from anybody.

2092
01:34:32,710 --> 01:34:35,713
Be skeptical,
ask questions,

2093
01:34:36,798 --> 01:34:38,550
think about it.

2094
01:34:38,675 --> 01:34:41,719
There are things that we
can't explain, and I think

2095
01:34:42,011 --> 01:34:45,223
it needs to be documented
as much as we can.

2096
01:34:45,515 --> 01:34:49,060
Documentation's important.
Without that,

2097
01:34:49,727 --> 01:34:52,730
it's an interesting story,
and that's it.

2098
01:34:55,066 --> 01:34:56,568
We can only do so much.

2099
01:34:56,693 --> 01:34:58,153
You know,
we're human beings

2100
01:34:58,278 --> 01:34:59,821
and we do the best we can.

2101
01:34:59,946 --> 01:35:01,698
I think
most people really do.

2102
01:35:01,823 --> 01:35:03,783
We don't have
all the answers,

2103
01:35:03,908 --> 01:35:06,870
and I don't think we ever
will have all the answers.

2104
01:35:06,995 --> 01:35:09,247
In the scientific realm.

2105
01:35:09,372 --> 01:35:11,875
What is a human
soul? Is a human soul?

2106
01:35:12,000 --> 01:35:13,877
does it live after death?

2107
01:35:14,002 --> 01:35:15,211
I don't think science
is going

2108
01:35:15,336 --> 01:35:16,713
to answer those questions.

2109
01:35:16,838 --> 01:35:19,924
I think all of these
near-death experiences

2110
01:35:21,384 --> 01:35:24,637
suggest that
that's possible.

2111
01:35:25,763 --> 01:35:28,558
[somber music]

2112
01:36:01,049 --> 01:36:02,675
[Clicking of machine]