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There is life after death: Revived patients share out-of-body experiences in startling NYU report

By Marc Lallanilla

Published Sep. 15, 2023, 4:48 p.m. ET

It’s not a deathbed myth: Our lives really do flash before our eyes when we die, according to a new report from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

“I remember seeing my dad,” said one patient after flatlining.

“I caught glimpses of my life and felt pride, love, joy and sadness, all pouring into me,” recalled another after being pulled back from the brink.

“I do remember a being of light … standing near me. It was looming over me like a great tower of strength, yet radiating only warmth and love,” a third survivor shared.

These and many other haunting recollections were described by cardiac arrest patients who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation as they hovered on death’s doorstep.

Typically, doctors have assumed there is little to no brain activity after about 10 minutes of cardiac arrest, when the heart stops beating, depriving the brain of oxygen.

However, the new research from NYU turns that misconception on its head.

“There are signs of normal and near normal brain activity found up to an hour into resuscitation,” Dr. Sam Parnia, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health, told The Post in a wide-ranging interview.

‘I was shown the consequences of my life, thousands of people that I’d interacted with and felt what they felt about me, saw their life and how I had impacted them. Next I saw the consequences of my life and the influence of my actions.’The recollection of one revived patient whose identity has been preserved for privacy purposes

“We were not only able to show the markers of lucid consciousness — we were also able to show that these experiences are unique and universal. They’re different from dreams, illusions and delusions.”

Parnia is the lead author of a study published this week in the journal Resuscitation that studied brain activity and awareness among 53 patients who survived cardiac arrest at 25 hospitals, mostly in the US and UK.

The researchers were able to show that the brain is surprisingly more durable than most doctors had previously believed.

“Our brain is very robust” and “is more resilient to oxygen deprivation” than expected, said Parnia, adding that the organ “can restore itself and have markers of normal brain activity.”

Of the 53 surviving patients in the study, almost 40% reported having memories or conscious thoughts. Patients in the study asked that their identities not be revealed for privacy reasons.

The patients also had spikes in the gamma, delta, theta, alpha and beta brain waves associated with higher mental function, as recorded by an electroencephalogram, a technology that records brain activity with electrodes.

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