Near-Death Experiences
Then the doctor walked away and I became aware of another presence nearby.
Suddenly I wasn’t lying on the bed but found myself in someone’s arms. I looked
up and saw a man with a beautiful white beard looking at me. His beard fascinated
me. It seemed to sparkle with a bright light, a light that came from within the
beard. I giggled and ran my hands through the beard and twirled it on my fingers.
I felt perfectly calm and happy with him. He gently rocked me, cradling me in his
arms, and although I didn’t know who he was, I never wanted to leave him (Eadie
This quote, from Betty J Eadie’s book about her near-death experiences, Embraced by the
Light, is just a typical recollection of one’s near-death experience. “Polls taken in the last two
decades indicate that anywhere from eight million to fifteen million Americans have had a near-
death experience. These people recall experiencing a vivid personal journey or have a vague
sensation that ‘something happened’ when they were on the brink of death” (Hayes 54), and,
“...studies suggest that between a tenth and a third of people who have had a cardiac arrest had an
NDE” (Fenwick 30). “In addition, conservative epidemiological studies indicate that
approximately 1% of the population (significantly more than 2 million people in the United States)
has had an NDE” (Groth-Marnat 112). Due to medical advances in the last twenty years, many
people who once would have died, can now be brought back, resulting in a much greater chance
for near-death experiences. Patients report having been on “the other side” before being brought
back to life, and in many cases, the patients are saddened to be back alive. In some rare cases,
however, patie...