“No, the death experience was very different to that.”

Last updated on: March 24, 2019 at 2:18 pm by Dan Peterson

“No, the death experience was very different to that.” 2019-03-24T14:18:03-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The main entrance to the University of Swansea in Wales, where Dr. Penny Sartori teaches.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Over the years, I’ve read a great deal about so-called “near-death experiences” (NDEs), which I find both fascinating and, on the whole, believable. One of the books that I’ve read is by Dr. Penny Sartori. While working as a nurse in a British hospital for twenty-one years (seventeen of them in intensive care), she became concerned about modern medical treatment of dying patients and began research that would eventually earn her a Ph.D. In the course of her studies, she became intrigued by NDEs, beginning as a cynic but soon leaving her cynicism behind.

Here’s a passage from Penny Sartori, The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully (London: Watkins Publishing, 2014), 130-131:

The patient in question was in a deeply unconscious state in which he was unresponsive to either verbal stimuli or painful stimuli. She was the nurse looking after him when the incident occurred (in November 1999) and she was present during the entire sequence of events. During the summer of 2013, she interviewed him again:

Oh yes, I still remember it. It’s just as clear, I can see it in my mind very vividly. The first bit I remember is sitting in the chair. The next thing I was floating upwards to the top of the room. I looked down and I could see my body on the bed. It was lovely, so peaceful and no pain at all. All my pain had gone. . . .

Then I felt someone touching my eye, I looked down and saw my body and the doctor and I could see you, Penny. The doctor said something about my eye. Then after that you put that pink lollipop thing in my mouth to clean it. That other girl was there, too, she was hiding outside the curtains, she was worried about me and kept looking to see how I was.

Then I heard someone say, ‘He’s got to go back.’ . . . But I wanted to stay there, it was so nice. I was having a nice time. And then I was floating backwards and went back into my body. Oh and the pain when I got into my body was terrible, it was awful. I’ll always remember that. . . .

It was very clear, not like those hallucinations I had when I was on morphine. Those hallucinations were terrible. I can’t remember them so clearly now but I remember the room was spinning and spiders were running up and down the walls and it felt like the bed was moving and going through walls. No, the death experience was very different to that.

And then Dr. Sartori herself comments on page 132:

This case was most interesting as he correctly identified which doctor had examined him, he correctly described the actions of the nurse and the physiotherapist that had occurred while he was unconscious. Everything that he reported actually did occur and he reported it with accuracy — I know because I was present for the whole duration but it wasn’t until he regained consciousness that I realized he had been experiencing an NDE and OBE at the time.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 23, 2019

New Testament Notes 140-141

Next Post

March 24, 2019 The early testimony of Martin Harris's wife, Lucy, to the Book of Mormon

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What kind of animal did Jesus ride into Jerusalem?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Horse Camel Ox Donkey