WEBVTT

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In Atalanta, Georgia,

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one particular case was about to astonish experts

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and doctors.

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Dr. Michael Sabom, cardiologist,

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was also studying near death experiences

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when he came across one extraordinary account.

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>> Pam's case is unique in the fact

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that she had her near death experience at a time

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she was fully instrumented and under

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medical observation.

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And I think if you wanted to construct

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a laboratory experiment

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where you had someone and took them

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as close to death or perhaps even into death

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as possible and then bring them back

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and ask them what they could recall,

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Pam's case probably comes closest to that

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than any other so far that we know of.

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>> Pam Reynolds was an established

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songwriter/singer and a busy working mother.

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In 1991, she became seriously ill.

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>> I began to experience extreme dizziness,

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loss of speech,

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some difficulty in moving the body

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and it was at that point that my physician

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recommended that I have a CT scan.

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And a CT scan of course showed the aneurysm

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and it was a big one.

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It was a giant aneurysm.

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I was referred to a neurologist

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and the neurologist gave me little or

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no chance of survival at all.

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>> But for Pam, there was one last hope.

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She made what she assumed would be

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her last journey,

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2000 miles to the Barrow Neurological Institute

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in Phoenix, Arizona.

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>> I remember the bright sunshine.

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The light in Phoenix, Arizona is piercing,

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from sun up on.

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And I remember getting into the shower.

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I had been given a scrub kit

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with a hard bristle brush and antibacterial solution

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to reduce the chances of infection, I'm sure.

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To this day I can remember the stinging

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of that brush and that solution on my skin.

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I can remember being placed on a gurney.

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I remember the squeaking of the wheels.

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>> Neurosurgeon, Dr. Robert Spetzler,

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decided to take on Pam's case against all odds.

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>> What we're looking at is the aneurysm

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that she had which is at the very base of the brain.

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This is the balloon that can burst

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and cause this incredible catastrophe

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in the patient's brain.

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Why is this so difficult in this particular case?

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I think probably easiest to see here by,

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when you look at this plastic model of the head,

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and we turn it around and we take out the top

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of the brain.

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What we're really talking about is that aneurysm

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is all the way at the very base of the brain

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and that is why it is so incredibly difficult

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to get there.

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So, you have to go somehow through the skull,

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because remember the face is here

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and the neck is down here,

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to get down to this very difficult spot.

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When we look at it on an actual brain,

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we can actually see where that is.

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That's the bottom of brain.

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If that fit in here, it would be like this.

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So, we're going to turn both of them around.

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And now we're looking at what's called,

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the brain stem which is this function.

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All the function of the brain passes through

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the brain stem.

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And where this particular aneurysm was

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is sitting right smack dab at the very middle

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at the base of the brain.

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And that's why it's so difficult to access,

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that's why it's so difficult to treat,

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and that's why it's so catastrophic when it bleeds.

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>> The operation Pam was about to undergo

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was known as, Operation Stand Still.

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Pam's body temperature would be lowered

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to between ten and fifteen degrees centigrade,

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her heart and breathing stopped,

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her brainwaves flattened,

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and the blood drained from her head.

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She would be clinically dead for a whole hour

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of the operation.

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>> What we want to do is we want to bring that brain

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to a halt.

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We don't just want the brain to be asleep,

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we want the metabolic activity of the brain to stop.

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Every measurable output that the body puts out,

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really disappears completely.

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So, that you have no measurable

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neuronal activity whatsoever.

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Prior to the operation starting,

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a lot of activity goes on.

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The patient is put to sleep.

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The eyes are taped shut.

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there are little clicking devices put in each ear

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in order to monitor the brain.

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The patient is then completely covered.

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The only thing that's really exposed

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is the area of the head where we work.

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>> I don't remember an operating room.

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I don't remember seeing Dr. Spetzler at all.

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I was with a fellow,

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one of his fellows was with me at that time.

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After that, nothing.

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Absolutely nothing.

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Until the sound.

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[bone saw whirring]

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And the sound was unpleasant.

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It was guttural.

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It was reminiscent of being in a dentist office.

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And I remember the top of my head tingling

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and I just sort of popped out of the top of my head.

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And I was then looking down at the body.

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I knew it was my body,

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but I didn't care.

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My vantage point was sort of sitting

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on the doctor's shoulder.

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I remember the instrument in his hand.

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It looked like the handle to my electric toothbrush.

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I had assumed they were going to open the skull

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with a saw.

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I had heard the term, saw,

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but what I saw looked a lot more like a drill

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than a saw.

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It even had little bits that were kept in this case

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that looked like a case that my father stored his

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socket wrenches in when I was a child.

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And I remember distinctly hearing a female

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voice saying,

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>> We have a problem.

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Her arteries are too small.

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>> Try the other side.

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>> It seemed to come from further

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down on the table.

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I do remember wondering, what are they doing?

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Because this is brain surgery.

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And what had happened was they accessed

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the femoral arteries in order to drain the blood.

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And I did not understand that.

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>> In the process of my study,

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I went and interviewed Dr. Spetzler and looked at

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his operative report and I found that what she saw

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from her out of body experience,

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seemingly corresponded very accurately

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to what had actually occurred.

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She looked at the bone saw that was being used

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to cut open her skull.

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I didn't have any idea what this thing looked like.

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She described it as an electric toothbrush

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which I thought was ridiculous.

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I had to send off for a picture of this saw

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to Fort Worth, Texas to confirm whether or not

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what she said it looked like actually was accurate.

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And I was astounded when I saw the picture.

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It indeed does resemble an electric toothbrush.

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>> I don't think that the observations she made

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were based on what she experienced as she went

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into the operating room theater.

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They were just not available to her.

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For example, the drill and so on,

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those things are all covered up.

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They're not visible.

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They were inside their packages.

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You really don't begin to open until the patient

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iIs completely asleep so that you maintain

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a sterile environment.

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>> She also heard a conversation

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during the operation between Dr. Spetzler

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and the cardiovascular surgeons who were cutting

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into her legs to hook her up to

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the heart-lung machine

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When the cardiac surgeon incised her right groin,

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she found that her veins and arteries were too small

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and she had to go over to the left side.

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And there was some conversation at the time

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between the doctors.

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Pam accurately recalled hearing that conversation.

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>> At that stage in the operation,

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nobody can observe, hear,

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in that state.

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And I find it inconceivable that your normal senses

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such as hearing, let alone the fact that she

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had clicking modules in each ear,

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that there was any way for her to hear those

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through normal auditory pathways.

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>> So, again, this is very suggestive of the fact

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that there was some sort of extrasensory perception

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or out of body experience

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or whatever occurring at the time that was allowing

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Pam to hear accurately and seemingly see

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accurately what was going on in the operating room

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at the time.

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>> I felt a presence.

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I sort of turned around to look at it.

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And that's when I saw the very tiny pinpoint of light.

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And the light started to pull me.

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And there was a physical sensation to the pulling

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and I know how that must sound.

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Nonetheless, it's true.

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There was a physical sensation,

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rather like going over a hill real fast,

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in your tummy.

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And I went toward the light.

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The closer I got to the light, I began to discern

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different figures,

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different people.

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And I distinctly heard my grandmother call me.

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She has a very distinct voice.

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And I immediately went to her.

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And it felt great.

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And I saw an uncle who passed away

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when he was only thirty-nine years old.

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He taught me a lot.

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He taught me to play my first guitar.

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And I saw many, many people I knew

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and many, many I didn't know

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but I knew I was somehow in someway

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connected to them.

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I asked if God was the light.

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And the answer was,

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no, God is not the light,

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the light is what happens when God breathes.

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And I stood there thinking,

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I'm standing in the breath of God.

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At some point in time,

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I was reminded that it was time to go back.

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Of course, I had made my decision to go back

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before I ever laid down on that table

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but you know, the more I was there,

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the better I liked it.

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And my uncle was the one who brought me

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back down to the body.

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But then I got to where the body was and I looked

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at the thing, and I for sure did not want

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to get in it because it looked pretty much

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like what it was,

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as in void of life.

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And I knew it would hurt

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so, I didn't want to get in.

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He kept reasoning with me.

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He said it's like diving into a swimming pool,

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just jump in.

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No.

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[laughing]

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What about the children?

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You know what?

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I think the children will be fine.

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[Laughing]

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Honey, you gotta go.

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No.

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He pushed me.

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He gave me a little help there.

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It's taken a long time, but I think I'm ready

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to forgive him for that.

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[Laughing]

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But - I landed - I saw the body jump.

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I saw it do this number.

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And then he pushed me and I felt it

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do this number.

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>> This is a classic near death experience

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occurring under extremely monitored

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medical conditions where every known vial sign

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and basically every clinical sign of life

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and death was being monitored at the time.

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And that's what makes her case so remarkable

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and so valuable to us.

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>> I don't have an explanation for it.

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I don't know how it's possible for it to happen

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considering the physiological state she's in.

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At the same time, I have seen so many things

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that I can't explain that I don't want to be

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so arrogant as to be able to say,

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that there's no way it can happen.

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>> Pam's case points to the fact that somehow

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she was able to retain coherent perception

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and memory whilst clinically dead.